Down the Bloodline 3
by Swalker2000
Summary: The stress of the AVL director job has finally got to Gru, and in an attempt to regain his sanity, the father-of-four plans a road trip for his whole family. But, much to Gru's annoyance, a series of mind-frying events continues to grind at his sanity, with his family being forced to face the full brunt of it. It especially doesn't help when the past starts catching up with them...
1. We're Going On A Roadtrip

_**Despicable Me:**_ **Down The Bloodline 3**

 _Well, it looks like this is becoming a trilogy._

 _To be completely honest, I've been really afraid about releasing this, since I was afraid of getting on everyone's nerves by releasing so many stories on this one thing, but it's so hard to stop me when I get a good idea._

 _Obviously, if you haven't read the first or the second story yet, then I highly recommend that you do, as it is imperative you understand the OC and his distinct personality and past (although his personality is basically the same as Edith's)._

 _If you have read the other two, then note that this one is set around one month after the events of the sequel. All the girls are the same age (remember that Edith turned ten in the second one though), but Jack will now be eighteen._

 _Not much else to say, apart from my hope that you'll enjoy it. Let's get started..._

* * *

 **Chapter One -**  
 _ **We're Going On A Roadtrip**_

 _ **BZZZZT!**_

The buzz of the digital alarm clock shook Gru's bedside table vigorously. For a few seconds, he elected to just completely ignore it, hoping somehow it would disappear and leave him alone.

 _ **BZZZZT!**_

It continued to ring. No matter how hard Gru tried to ignore it, it's infuriating buzz was reverberating through his mind. Instead of giving in and accepting that morning was here, he just kept on trying to tune it out, desperately attempting to imagine a much more relaxing sound.

 _ **BZZZZT!**_

Sick and tired of the racquet, Gru lunged forward and slammed his palm onto the snooze button, shutting the maddening buzz off once and for all. Right after, he slumped back down onto his soft pillow and admired the calm silence that now surrounded him.

No AVL agents, no villains, no alarm clocks. Just... _silence._

Gradually, his mind drifted off again...

But, just as he fell back to sleep, he was brought right back into consciousness by a familiar feminine voice.

"Gruuuu." Lucy sang playfully, lightly shaking the unmoving body of her husband. "Time to get uuuppp. Come on, honey, we're gonna be late."

With the heaviest and most sluggish of groans, Gru slowly rolled over in bed and faced his wife, whose orange hair was shaggy with a bed-head. As she sat up in the bed, Lucy glared down at him with an endearingly sweet smile, one of which tugged at Gru's heartstrings.

"Ughh...can we just...have a few more meenutes." Gru mumbled, his eyes only half open. The way in which he spoke mirrored that of a sleepy young child, something Lucy was finding frustratingly cute.

"I'd love to sweetie..." She replied, shuffling her way out of bed and stretching her tight muscles. "But I wanna get to work _on time_ today."

She was, of course, referring to the dozens of times that the couple had been late in arriving at the AVL headquarters over the past few weeks. Sometimes it was by a few minutes, others it was by a few hours. Either way, wasting time isn't the greatest of ideas when dozens of villains are waiting to strike the city at any moment.

"Don't worry about eet, Lucy, _I'm_ de director." Gru replied. "Eet doesn't matter how late we are. Pleeeaaase, honey. Just come lie down weeth me for a _leetle beet_ longer."

Lucy looked down at him with an irritated glare. He was all snuggled up under the covers and was giving her an almost pleading look. If she obliged and stayed in bed for any longer, then chances are, she too would fall asleep and the couple would arrive at work at 12pm instead of 9am.

But, it did look pretty comfortable...

"Ugh...fine." Lucy spoke, giving in. Within an instant of her response, Gru's expression lit up colorfully, and Lucy was finding his smile extremely contagious.

But, just as she leaned down to get back under the covers, the bedroom door violently swung open and slammed against the wall, practically startling the couple out of their skin.

"MORNING!" Screamed the high-pitched voice of Agnes, as she bulleted into the room and leaped onto Gru's chest, making the former villain groan in discomfort. "Time to get up, daddy!"

"Hmm...I feegured dat, pumpkeen." Gru replied tiredly, trying his hardest to hide his large frown. Recently, he'd been valuing sleep a lot more, as the director job was becoming more and more draining as time went by. Most days, he would struggle to get up to five hours of sleep, let alone the recommended amount of eight.

A moment later, Margo came strolling into the room, wearing that usual bright smile that she always wore. Her hair had already been smartly brushed, even though she was yet to change out of her pajamas, and her quick walk showed that she was refreshed and ready for another day.

God, how Gru envied that.

"Morning, mom." She greeted, wandering up to Lucy. "Morning, dad."

"Morning, sweetie." The couple replied in unison, one response being a lot more cheerful and lively than the other.

"Sleep well?" Lucy asked, wrapping her arms around her eldest daughter's back.

"Yeah, pretty well." Margo responded, nodding. Trying to act mature, the twelve-year-old returned the question, just like any other adult would in that situation. "How about you two?"

"Hmph... _fantastic_." Gru answered sardonically, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. He could already feel the pain of yet another headache developing at the back of his brain, and he hadn't even left his bed yet. "So...what ees eet dat yoo want?"

"Breakfast." Agnes replied innocently, as if the answer was obvious. To be fair, considering that it was quite early in the morning, the answer _should've_ been obvious. "Can I have chocolate chip pancakes this morning?"

"Hmm...sure, whatever." Gru replied, his response immediately followed by Agnes's delighted cheers. As the director sat up against the headboard, where the spikes had finally been removed for safety reasons, he noticed the absence of pink within the room. "Where's your seester?"

"Where do you think?" Margo responded, rolling her eyes. "It's seven-thirty on a school morning."

In response, Gru only gave a very heavy sigh. For a moment, he'd completely forgotten about the daily battle he had to partake in with Edith to get her out of bed. Considering his gruff state, he really wasn't in the mood for an argument.

In one last attempt to get some more sleep, Gru turned and handed Lucy yet another imploring gaze, using his eyes to ask her to get back in bed. Reading the signal, Lucy leaned down and tapped Gru on his pointy nose, grinning evilly as she did so.

"No." She stated playfully, yet backed up with a slightly firm tone. "Come on. The sooner you get up, the sooner you can get back to bed."

She did have a point, but the very thought of slogging to work and commanding hundreds of inept agents for eight hours made it completely obsolete to Gru.

Finally giving in, the director gave yet another sigh before getting out of bed. Desperately trying to keep himself optimistic, Gru shut off all negative thoughts and pushed himself out of the room, his wife and daughters following shortly behind. I mean, who knows...

...today could be a good day.

* * *

Gru was resting his head in his arms as he sat atop the red stool in front of the kitchen counter. As the seconds flew past at speed, his sharp headache got more and more painful, the looming prospect of work being the reason why. Trying to ignore and hopefully forget about it, he turned around and spied his wife and daughters at the table, who were all concentrating on individual activities.

Lucy was sipping on the coffee in her mug, Margo was quietly doing some extra-credit work for her math class, Edith was lazily slumped back into the booth-seat with half-open eyes, and Agnes was tearing through her chocolate chip pancakes at a blurred speed.

He couldn't lie, even though he loved them all to death, this whole situation was getting pretty predictable. Every day was now following the same pattern, and even though he previously thought he could never tire of it, he was starting to find it tedious.

Work was not only infuriating, but it was also boring as all hell. As of late, the director job was revolving much less around missions, and much more about briefings and form-related assignments. In fact, the last villain mission he partook in was the mission to stop Venin, and he had to be knocked unconscious and kidnapped in order to start it.

However, the one bright side was the decreased dependence he had on research. Before, because Nigel was practically the definition of incompetent, Gru had to perform all of his own research to find actual useful information.

But now, since Nigel had been shot and killed by one of Venin's brainwashed associates and Gru was forced to find a replacement, Jack was doing all of that for him, and in fantastic clarity no less.

And as those thoughts crossed Gru's mind, in walked the teenager, carrying a multitude of heavy folders that were overflowing with forms and reports.

"Morning, Gru." He greeted, placing the folders on the counter. "Have I got some info for you."

"Let me guess..." Gru mumbled in response, massaging his temple as he did so. "Another villain. Another big scheme. Another eediot who wants to take over de world."

"Eh, not a bad guess." Jack replied, shrugging. "Except this guy is a bit less ambitious. As far as I can tell, he wants to steal all of the money from the city bank, and then use it to build a big gun or something."

"Hmph...great." Gru muttered sarcastically, turning to face him. At this point, he finally noticed his disheveled appearance. There were large, purple-tinted bags underneath his eyes, and his shirt was covered in junk food crumbs. His posture was worse for wear, and overall, he looked like a mess. "Have yoo...been awake all night?"

"Uhh...I think so." Jack replied, rubbing his eyes. "Gotta make sure the info is right, don't I?"

"Well, yeah, but...not eef eet means getteeng no sleep." Gru stated, giving the several overflowing folders a quick glance, then returning his gaze back to Jack. Even though he was very impressed with the teenager's dedication to finding all this information, he was still a little concerned for his well-being. "I mean, yoo look terrible."

"Oh, thanks, Gru. Means a lot." Jack responded mordantly, crossing his arms with a frown. "And you're one to talk. You look like you're gonna pass out at any minute."

"Ugh...whatever." Gru said, rolling his eyes. He was in no mood for an altercation. "Just tell me more about dis guy."

"Right, well, he goes by the name Nightfall," Jack explained quickly. "Which I gotta admit, is a pretty cool name. Just like most villains, I couldn't find that much stuff about his past, since he keeps it all private. But looking at some of his previous failed schemes, he isn't that experienced with being evil, so you should be able to stop him pretty easily."

"Dere's no such theeng as ' _easily_ ' weeth de AVL, Jack." Gru corrected, huffing under his breath. "When ees he gonna hit de bank, den?"

"Sometime over the next few hours, I think." Jack stated, as he started shuffling through a few research forms to clarify his answer. "He also owns this really awesome helicopter, so tell the agents that he might use that to escape."

Turning his head away in thought, Gru contemplated whether or not he actually wanted to send any agents this time. He and his wife were perfectly capable of stopping some inexperienced villain from stealing money from the bank, a simple and not very ingenuitive plan. There was no need to brief a load of dullard agents, when he could just waltz over to the bank right now and kick this guy's amateur butt.

"Well, I don't need to worry about dat, because I ain't sendeeng de agents." Gru responded, getting up from the stool. He turned to face Lucy at speed, startling her a little as she was half-way through sipping her coffee. " _We're_ gonna take dis guy down ourselves."

"Uh...really?" Lucy questioned, giving him a befuddled look. "You look completely shattered, Gru. Is it really a good idea to take him down on our own when you're half-asleep?"

"Lucy, deedn't yoo hear heem?" Gru replied. "Dis guy ees a novice. We could take heem down weeth both our arms tied behind our backs."

"Uh...well...if you say so." Lucy said, giving a faint shrug. She wasn't one to turn down a mission, but she had to admit, she was a little worried about Gru and his concentration-draining fatigue. Missions usually require a tonne of concentration.

"Great! Let's go den!" Gru cheered, the couple proceeding to give their daughters a goodbye kiss on the forehead. The now more upbeat director then turned to face the unkempt teenager, who was pouring himself a cup of coffee. "And good work, Jack. Yoo can go ahead and take de day off eef yoo want."

"Wait... _seriously_!?" Jack responded, a bright smile exploding from his face.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I theenk yoo've done _plenty_ of work already." Gru replied, motioning towards the pile of folders on the counter. "So, just drive de gurls to school and den take eet easy."

"Cool." Jack cooed, thanking Gru with a very wide and grateful smile. Just as the teenager was about to move over to the kitchen table and sit down with his sisters, Gru grabbed his arm and stopped him, making Jack offer him a puzzled glare.

"Oh, but, one last theeng." He said, pointing over to the girls, where Edith was passed out on the kitchen table, looking lost inside a deep sleep as she rested her head comfortably in her arms. "Yoo might need to spoon-feed her..."

* * *

Around an hour later, Jack and the girls left the house and started towards the teen's red sports car, which had been parked inside the garage for safety reasons. It was mostly because of the huge metal tank that Gru loved to bash cars with. He knew that he probably wouldn't do it to his own son, but still, just in case.

"Shotgun!" Edith yelled, as she sprinted ahead of her siblings and leaped into the passenger seat, using up the very little amount of energy she had left in her possession. Jack chuckled as he slumped in front of the steering wheel, where he gave his head a quick soothing rub. It was still stinging uncomfortably from his all-nighter, and the only remedy was a day of sleeping and food.

Margo helped Agnes into her own seat in the back of the car, and then proceeded to sit down herself. Once everyone was in, Jack turned the key in the ignition and started down the driveway, humming happily to himself as he lightly pressed his foot on the accelerator.

"Jack, I've been meaning to ask you," Margo started, as the teen looked at her from the rear-view mirror. "When did you learn to drive? I mean, you _are_ still pretty young."

For a moment, all Jack did was smirk. He was really starting to like it when Margo asked him about something. She was an extremely smart girl, and she always came up with the most clever questions. And also, if she asked just the right question, he might be able to scare her.

It's probably a bit cruel, but Jack just loved scaring people. With the girls, he didn't like scaring them to the point of nightmares, since he hated to see them genuinely upset, but he did love to tease them a little.

"That's a good question, Margo." He replied, as he checked for any on-coming cars on the street before pulling off. "I learned while I was with the IVB. We had to learn how to drive _all types_ of vehicles. The most important one was learning to drive a van."

"Why?" Agnes asked, now interested in the conversation.

"Oh, well, uh..." Jack started, hesitating for a moment. "Cuz they're really strong and can withstand lots of head-on collisions."

That was a lie.

The real reason was their use in kidnappings, but since Agnes was so young and incredibly innocent, he decided against telling her the truth. He didn't mind talking about that stuff with Margo and Edith, mainly because Margo was smart enough to know when he was lying and Edith was alike him enough to find all that stuff pretty cool.

On the subject of his little sister, Jack gave her a quick glance when they came to a stop at a set of traffic lights. The tomboy was resting her head in her hand as she stared out of the passenger-side window, seeming a million miles away. A little concerned, Jack took the opportunity to grab her attention, deducing that this was probably the best time to do so while they were stuck at a red-light.

"Edith?" He spoke, startling her a little. "You're kinda quiet this morning. You feeling okay?"

"Oh, uh...yeah, I'm fine." Edith replied, shrugging. "I'm just a little...tired, I guess."

Instead of responding, Jack opted to give her a suspicious look. Edith was always pretty tired in the mornings, but once she'd eaten and had left the house, she usually brightened up a little. He felt like there was something wrong with her, but instead of pestering her with questions, he just shook it off and got back to driving.

After a few more seconds of silence, Edith spoke up again, figuring that Jack could possibly provide some help for her issue.

"Jack?" She started, lifting her head slightly. "Do you know anything about indices?"

"Indi- _what now_?" Jack replied, pulling a deeply baffled face. Sighing, Edith rolled her eyes and slumped further into her seat, pulling a heated frown onto her face.

"Ugh, it's these stupid things we gotta learn for the next math test." She groaned, turning to look out of the car window once again. "I don't get them at all."

"Pfft, Edith, indices are easy." Margo began. "They're just rules we use to simplify the power of a power. So, if we had four to the power two cubed, then we would-"

" _Boring!_ " Edith interrupted, not understanding a single word she was saying. Giving up, Margo rolled her eyes and huffed, turning away to look out of the window.

"So, when's the test?" Jack asked, his eyes locked firmly on the road.

"Today!" Edith exclaimed angrily. "And if I fail it, then they're gonna call mom and dad, 'cuz I've already failed four times this year."

"Oh...that sucks." Jack said, pulling an empathetic expression. Sighing again, Edith dropped her head and lowered her hat in front of her eyes, crossing her arms in indignation. She hated school enough without the stress of math tests and phone calls home.

Feeling sorry for her, Jack leaned forward and grabbed a few CDs from underneath the radio, trying to find the specific one he wanted.

"Well, I might have something here that'll cheer you up." He said, picking out the one he was looking for. Edith lifted her head and spied the CD, and immediately, she slumped back down again.

How was _music_ going to cheer her up?

She hated music, and Jack should've known that. It was all annoying boy bands singing about stupid sappy things like love and relationships. How can anyone withstand that rubbish for any more than a second? Listening to music was only going to make her feel worse.

"Don't even bother, Jack." Margo said, knowing exactly what her sister must've been thinking. "Edith hates music."

"Yes, but there are many different types of music, Margo, and I think she'll like this." Jack replied, slotting the CD into the radio's CD slot. "Prepare yourself."

The instant after Jack pressed the play button, a very loud and heavy guitar started blurting from the speakers, making all three girls jump out of their skin. Not too long after, a very rough sounding man began shouting a series of incredibly loud lyrics, all of which seemed to be about very angry topics.

As this happened, Jack started bobbing his head up and down, seeming perfectly content while he did so. This was the kind of music he discovered when he was a kid, and he always used to listen to it when he was alone in his IVB dorm. For some reason, even though the lyrics were usually about really sad topics, it always seemed to cheer him up.

"Woah, it's...pretty _loud_." Margo replied, wincing. This type of music certainly wasn't up her alley. In fact, in her opinion, a man screaming into a microphone while a bunch of guitars screeched in the background wasn't even a _type_ of music.

"You mean, _awesome_!" Edith butted in, now seeming a lot more upbeat than she was a moment ago.

"Yes! I told you so, didn't I?" Jack cheered, chuckling. Mirroring her brother, Edith started bobbing her head up and down in satisfaction, and the two siblings broke out into playful laughter as the singer's shouting got more and more aggressive.

"Margo, why are those people looking at us?" Agnes asked, pointing at a bunch of pedestrians, who were staring at the occupants of the car intently.

"Probably because we're listening to some really loud...uh... _music_." Margo replied, crossing her arms and giving Jack an irritated look. Instead of responding or arguing, Jack simply chuckled and kept himself quiet, preferring to actually listen to the heavy metal music instead of spoiling it with his voice.

When he was younger, he would listen to this type of music every single day. Not because he wanted to, but because he _needed_ to. This type of music was a coping method for him, to help him deal with the fact that he had no-one to love or care for. A lot of people did find it weird, but Jack never cared, because he knew that they would never understand.

Nowadays though, listening to this music was just a simple entertainment activity. Since he was no longer lonely or no longer filled to the brim with resentment, this type of music wasn't needed anymore. However, on those occasions where other things would bring him down, this music was always there to cheer him up again.

From the look of happiness on Edith's face, he had a feeling she could use it too.

After another ten minutes of driving coupled with extremely loud heavy metal music, the four arrived at the school's parking lot and pulled up near the front entrance.

"Bye, girls!" Jack shouted, waving as Margo and Agnes jumped out of the back seat. "Have a good day in school."

Margo and Agnes waved back as they disappeared into the school building, while Edith leaned over and tried to give her brother a kiss goodbye before she did the same. But, as she did so, Jack lightly grabbed her shoulders and stopped her. Edith gave him a puzzled look, but before she could question him, the teen motioned his head behind her.

There, a bunch of students were standing around, a few of them offering the two an expectant gaze. They were clearly awaiting something, but whatever that something was was unclear. Edith turned to them and then back to Jack with a look of confusion, one of which Jack cleared with a quick explanation.

"Don't kiss me in front of them." He said. "Kissing your brother at school is kinda lame."

"Oh, right, yeah." Edith replied, giving him a grateful smile. He was right. They were sure to make fun of her if she did. "See ya later, then."

The tomboy jumped out of the car and watched as the students turned away, clearly disappointed that they couldn't mock her. Grinning proudly, Edith started towards the school gates with a cheerful walk, the math test completely forgotten.

"Edith!" Jack exclaimed, catching her attention just before she disappeared. The teen mouthed the words "Love you", before switching the radio back on and then speeding out of the parking lot.

Edith couldn't help but grin, especially when a few students started gawking at his car as he sped away. Out of all the other children in the school, there was no other kid that had a cooler older brother than she did.

What other older brother saves you from both death and kidnappings, and then casually saves the world a little while later?

No other, that's the answer.

But, once Jack had disappeared, the memory of the math test came flooding back, making Edith groan unhappily.

All remnants of the grin instantly vanished, and her expression transcended into a saddened frown. This test was sure to go terrible, especially considering how tired she was feeling, so there was no way this day could go anything but awful.

Reluctantly, the ten-year-old walked through the front gates and into the building, making her way towards her class. Every inch of her mind was screaming at her to turn back around and leave, but she figured that skipping the test and ditching school would cause a lot more problems than it would solve.

Eventually, after a few minutes of racking her brain for a way out of this, she reached the door to her class. She took a peek inside, and sure enough, the teacher was placing the test papers on each desk, all ready for the students.

With one last sigh, Edith gave up on trying to find a solution, and walked into the classroom...

* * *

Gru and Lucy rolled up to the city bank at blinding speed. The couple leaped from the large metal tank and barged their way through the wooden double-doors, producing a grand entrance into the building. The inside of the bank was filled with a peaceful atmosphere, just like it usually was in the early hours of the morning.

A few people offered them strange looks as they entered the large room, which the couple had to try hard to ignore. They quickly approached the front desk at pace, using their eyes to try and identify anything suspicious within the large interior.

The receptionist examined them from afar with a questioning expression, but as she did with every other client, she hid it when they got near and greeted them politely.

"How can I help you today?" She asked.

"Has he heet yet!?" Gru exclaimed, completely ignoring the question. The receptionist twisted her expression in bewilderment, not having a clue what he was on about.

"Ummm...excuse me?" She replied.

"Nightfall!" Lucy stated. "Has he hit the bank yet!?"

"I...um...I'm not sure what you're on abo-"

But, before the receptionist could finish her response, an ear-piercing explosion sounded from inside the building, startling the living daylights out of everyone inside. Strangely, no damage had been done to the large room, proving that the explosion must've come from somewhere deeper inside the bank.

Determination running through their veins, the AVL couple leaped over the front desk and ran through the door labeled 'Employees Only', paying no heed to the bold message.

"Hey!" The receptionist yelled. "You're not supposed to be in there!"

Ignoring her yells, Gru and Lucy ran hastily down an exceedingly long hallway, which was full of nothing but random paintings, portraits, and odd pieces of furniture. The only door in sight was at the end of the room, and judging by the black smoke seeping from underneath it, Nightfall must be behind there.

After around twenty seconds of running, the duo reached the door and came to a grinding halt, taking a few moments to catch their breath. Behind it, the sounds of shuffling and footsteps could be heard, practically confirming that Nightfall was inside.

"Okay, here's de plan." Gru whispered, one hand wrapped firmly around the freeze-ray in his coat pocket. "We barge our way een, block de door so he hasn't got a way out, and den beat de liveeng daylights out of dis brat. Got eet?"

"Got it." Lucy responded, nodding promptly.

"Okay, on three." Gru began, taking a deep, but very quiet, breath. "One...two... _three_!"

The moment the number hit the air, Lucy booted the door down and provided yet another eccentric entrance into a room. Inside, bank vaults had been exploded open and ransacked, the ceiling had been blown open to provide Nightfall with a way inside, and not a single dollar bill was in sight.

Well, apart from the millions of them stacked inside a certain young, inexperienced villain's massive duffel bag.

"Hey!" Gru screamed, unleashing his freeze ray and aiming it at the villain's head. "Don't move!"

Nightfall spun around at speed and handed Gru a frightened look, and for a moment, Gru felt like he was pointing a freeze ray at some innocent teenager. A part of the director's mind told him to put it down and let him go, but he knew this guy was still a villain, and therefore, he brought this on himself.

"Just put the money back and no-one has to get hurt." Lucy stated, speaking devilishly creepy. It was unlike her to speak in such a fashion, but as of late, she'd been practicing her intimidation technique. I mean, it certainly wouldn't hurt to obtain the ability to scare people straight.

"Oh...uh...s-sure..." Nightfall spoke timidly, giving the AVL duo a weak glare. "Let me just...put it ba-"

However, before Nightfall could finish his sentence, a harness fell from the destroyed ceiling and the young villain shot up into the sky before Gru and Lucy could register what was happening.

They turned the heads upwards and helplessly watched as Nightfall disappeared through the massive hole and into a hovering helicopter. Before Gru could shoot the freeze ray and stop him in his tracks, the aircraft flew away and escaped, Nightfall along with it.

For a minute, all the couple could do was stare with a blank, stunned expression.

Did that really just happen? Did they really just get bested by that kid?

Judging by the fact that Nightfall was now gone, and millions of the bank's dollars had been stolen along with him, it did seem that was so.

Growling in rage, Gru balled his fists and hung his head. Jack had warned him about the helicopter and the fact that he might use it to escape, but for whatever reason, he had completely forgotten about it. And now, some rookie rogue made the highly-experienced, well-trained AVL director look like some amateur chump.

"Um..." Lucy spoke, still staring up at the massive hole in the ceiling. "Maybe next time, we should just...send the agents."

In response, Gru said nothing.

Instead, he stared directly forward and curled his mouth into one of the most vicious frowns his face had ever conjured.

With it, the headache at the back of his brain became a whole truckload stronger...

* * *

"I'll see you at lunchtime." Margo called, as she waved at her best-friend Avery while the two walked out of class. It was now recess, and as she did every single day at this period, Margo was heading to the library to do a little bit of studying.

Some could say she spent too much time studying, but the bespectacled twelve-year-old enjoyed it too much to just ditch it and spend her time doing nothing. Not only had her grades improved substantially since she started recess studying, but her general common knowledge had risen tenfold.

If she carried on, she was fairly sure she could meet or possibly surpass Gru's knowledge bank, and her father had one of the most expansive memories for random tidbits and general facts the girl had ever seen. In the lab, he had a _huge_ library, which contained shelves upon shelves of in-depth encyclopedias and some of the rarest pieces of literature to ever grace the planet.

One day, she hoped she could own a massive library that held rare books, just so she could spend all of her free time inside of it, reading her time away. Considering that Gru's library is deep down inside the lab, it can get kind of difficult to avoid distractions from the minions' constant antics and silliness, so reading is practically impossible in there.

So, right now, all she had was the school library, which she utilized whenever she could.

As she continued walking through the school's hallways, the sight of her little tomboy sister, who was sitting on a bench and carrying her head in her hands, caught her eye. Noticing how distinctly upset she looked, Margo wandered over to Edith and sat down beside her, startling her slightly when she began talking.

"What's up?" Margo asked.

"Oh. It's you." Edith replied, who gave her a momentary glance before dropping her head again. "I just did the math test."

"And...how did it go?" Margo inquired, already guessing the answer based on her gloomy expression.

"Badly." Edith mumbled, not looking up from the ground. "I couldn't do any of 'em."

"Oh." Margo responded, watching as her little sister gave an extremely heavy sigh. Margo was used to dealing with her little sister's being upset, since she was the only one who cared for them at the orphanage, but she rarely saw Edith this unhappy. School work never usually got her down this much. "Well...there's nothing you can do about it now, so...try not to worry about it."

"Why do I suck at _everything_ , Margo?" Edith asked, ignoring her response. She lowered her beanie in front of her eyes and dropped her head completely, something she only ever did when she got very close to tearing up.

The big sister side of Margo fully emerging, the twelve-year-old put an arm around her sister's shoulders and comforted her, just like she used to do at the orphanage.

"Hey, you don't suck at _everything_." She spoke soothingly. "You're really good with that ninja stuff, you're really good at fighting, you're really good at soccer. We all can't be good at everything, Edith. I mean, I'm _useless_ at fighting, so I just avoid doing it and concentrate more on things I'm good at."

Edith's eyes were now visible again, as her previous sad pout began to fade.

"Just don't worry about it, okay. Who cares if you suck at maths? You're super smart at other stuff, so that's all that matters!"

"Thanks, Margo." Edith said, now smiling. "You're awesome."

"If you say so." Margo replied, chuckling. Just as the two were about to hug, a small figure ran up to them at speed, a squeaky voice accompanying it.

"Margo! Edith!" Agnes yelped, tears running down her eyes as she sprinted up to the bench.

"Woah, woah, what's going on, Agnes?" Margo asked, standing up from the bench.

"Th-that b-boy t-took my u-unicorn..." Agnes muttered, wiping her nose with one hand, and pointing across the yard with another. Margo looked up and spied the boy in question, who was evilly playing catch with another friend of his, with Agnes's unicorn.

She knew the boy from her class. He was much older and bigger than Agnes, so the fact that he chose to pick on her was actually extremely pathetic in Margo's eyes.

Narrowing her eyes and frowning, she glared at the boy in rage as he continued to laugh menacingly, his infuriating voice sharply grinding her gears.

"Don't worry about it, alright." Margo spoke, her voice soothing and light, before transitioning to aggressive as she started towards the boy. "I'll go get it back."

"Count me in." Edith said, jumping from the bench and following on behind, just as determined and angry as her older sister.

The two boys continued to throw the unicorn back and forth, laughing while they did so, up until Margo strutted up and gathered their attention with a sharp shout.

"Hey!" She yelled, as the main culprit caught the unicorn again. "Give my sister her unicorn back!"

"Or what!?" The boy retorted, crossing her arms.

"Or else!" Edith exclaimed, coming up from behind Margo. As she glared at the boy in complete iration, she tried to remember the intimidation advice that Jack had given her, in order to strike some fear into his heart. Yes, she may be a little smaller than him, but Edith had a few fighting tricks up her sleeve, and she was fairly confident in taking him on. "This is your _last_ chance!"

"Pfft...I'm _soooo_ scared." The boy replied sarcastically, smiling while he did so. This entire situation wasn't seeming to faze him in the slightest. "Nice hat, by the way. Did your _mommy_ pick it out for you?"

"No!" Edith retorted aggressively. She was about to argue, but when she remembered what kind of conversation she was stepping into, she backed up and kept herself quiet.

Edith's pink hat was left for her by her biological father. And even though her biological father turned out to be one of the most evil, wicked and cruel men on the planet, who chose to pursue a life of crime instead of caring for her and her brother, the hat still held a very significant place in her heart.

Margo also knew that very well.

"Ohhh, so it must've been your daddy then." The boy continued, unknowingly hitting one of Edith's very sore spots. "Well...it looks _stupid_. He really must hate you if he wants to get you a hat like th-"

However, before he could finish the extremely hurtful insult, Margo leaped forward and dealt an unexpectedly strong punch to the boy's nose, putting him on the floor in an instant...

* * *

"De day I get bested by some leetle pre-pubescent punk!" Gru exclaimed out loud, as he aggressively pushed the front door open and then immediately slammed it shut, practically making the whole of the house's structure shake. He thundered his way down the hallway with his fists clenched, looking dead forward with a death stare.

Lucy stayed a few paces behind him and kept herself quiet, as she was a little fearful of trying to talk to him. He was very clearly in a beyond irate mood, and although she was fairly sure she could cheer him up, she was also very afraid of making things worse.

As the two walked into the living room, the sight inside was enough to push Gru's anger further. On the couch, Dru and Jack were watching TV quietly, seeming very drawn to the programme being shown. But, the part that was angering Gru, was the absolute flood of mess that surrounded them.

Candy wrappers, chip packets, empty ice-cream tubs and soda cans were littered across the floor and couch in huge piles, making the room look like some sort of garbage dump. Some pieces of garbage were even on top of them, but they were so engrossed by the TV, that they didn't seem to care.

"What de _HELL_ ees all of dis!?" Gru screamed, the rage continuing to boil. In surprise, Jack spun around and gave him a shocked look, while Dru screamed and almost fell off the couch in fright. When he realized that it was just Gru and Lucy, he cleared his throat and sat up straight again, pretending that the scream never happened.

"Woah," Jack responded simply. "Talk about a grand entrance."

"Do _not_ test me, Jack..." Gru muttered aggressively, his teeth binding together in pure indignation. Ignoring the teen's befuddled expression, the director spun his gaze around the room and flaunted a hand towards many of the different piles of litter. "What ees weeth all of de rubbeesh!?"

"Oh! Well, we...uh..." Dru started, shrinking down under Gru's intensive gaze. "We got a leetle... _hungry_ , I guess."

" _A leetle_ hungry!?" Gru shouted. "Yoo must've eaten four times your weight! Where deed yoo get all dis food from!?"

"Ugh...where do you think, Gru?" Jack questioned, rolling his eyes. "The food store, obviously. Using your own wage to buy candy is pretty cool, y'know."

Growling under his breath, the only thing Gru could manage was giving Jack one of the deepest and most intense glares he'd ever given him, hoping to teach him a lesson with it. However, instead of frightening the teenager like he hoped he would, Jack only crossed his arms and smirked smugly in response, igniting his rage further.

At that moment, the sound of the front door being opened and closed caught their attention, and followed shortly after, the three sisters entered the room.

Agnes, who now had her unicorn safe in her grasp, looked her usual ecstatic self as she ran into the room at pace.

Edith, who looked like she'd just witnessed one of the coolest moments of her life, looked as bright and happy as the sun as she waltzed proudly into the room.

While Margo, who seemed frustrated and riled up, dragged herself slowly into the room with a frown, her arms locked together tight. Her clothes were also muddied and torn in places, adding to her general disheveled appearance.

"Margo?" Lucy spoke loudly, pacing over and kneeling down in front of her. "What happened to you?"

"She got in a fight!" Edith cheered, smiling jubilantly. It was clear she had a whole new appreciation for Margo now.

"And she got my unicorn back!" Agnes cheered right after, looking just as cheerful.

"Yoo got eento a fight!?" Gru exclaimed, giving her a stunned look. In response, Margo simply dropped her head and gave a very faint nod. However, a small smirk started appearing on her lips, as if she were both ashamed and proud of herself at the same time.

"Did you win?" Jack asked, looking extremely intrigued in the conversation.

"She kicked his butt!" Edith responded happily, turning to Margo with a hugely wide smile. "I thought you said you were useless at fighting. Cuz I've never beaten up someone so bad that I got _suspended_."

"Yoo got _suspended_!?" Gru shouted, now looking even more stunned, with that previous load of rage starting to come back. Margo simply shrugged, turning away with an almost uncaring look.

"He deserved it." She stated.

"Ugh...I expect dis sort of theeng from Edith, but not from _yoo_ , Margo!" Gru exclaimed, looking down at her fiercely. And then, just as Edith's name hit the air, the phone started ringing, making Gru close his eyes in a clear bout of stress.

Something was telling him that this call was going to be bad...

Turning away from everyone, Gru marched over to the phone and picked it up at speed, almost crushing the receiver in his grasp.

"What!?" He snapped, startling everyone in the room a little. After a few seconds, where the person on the other end was clearly shocked by his outburst and trying hard to get their words out, Gru shouted again. "She's failed _five times_ een a row!?"

Instantly, he spun around and glared at Edith, who in return, looked away and pretended to act like she hadn't heard him.

"Are yoo sure yoo got de right keed!?" He questioned, now looking down the receiver with a devilish stare. "Hmm...yeah, dat's her."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Gru slammed the phone down before the person could finish speaking, and hung his head as low as he possibly could.

Silence filled the room very quickly. Along with it, a very clear sense of tension was in the air, one of which everyone could feel.

After a moment, Gru huffed and made his way towards the living room door, pacing as fast as he could.

"Lucy?" He mumbled. "Could we have a leetle chat for a moment?"

Lucy gave him a puzzled look, one of which he opted to ignore in order to keep moving as fast as possible, before slowly following him out of the room. Once they'd left, the room was plunged into silence once again. Everyone just looked at each other in confusion, unsure as to what just happened and what was about to happen.

After another few seconds of nothing, Jack turned to Dru, who looked as frightened as a petrified young boy, and gave him a sheepish look.

"Maybe we should've cleaned up..."

* * *

Gru pushed himself into his bedroom and slumped down on the side of the mattress with a large and heavy huff. He glared at the floor with eyes full of fire, and when the pain at the back of his brain started to sting again, he was forced to grab onto his head to try and keep control.

A few seconds after, Lucy entered the room slowly and offered him a concerned look, which grew when she saw his head in his hands.

"Honey?" She questioned, approaching him. "You feeling okay?"

"I can't take dis anymore, Lucy." Gru replied, not looking up from the floor.

"Take what anymore?" Lucy responded, moving over and sitting beside him on the bed.

"Everytheeng!" Gru stated sharply, as he finally turned his head to glare at her. "Everytheeng ees driveeng me crazy and I've had _enough_!"

Now, considering the specific words that he was using, Lucy was afraid of where he was going with this. She hadn't seen him this angry in a very long time, and strangely, this anger just seemed to pop up out of the blue.

"Well, do yoo know what, dat ees _EET_!" Gru yelled, standing up and marching across the room to look out through the window. "Eet's time sometheeng ees done about dis!"

"Wh...what do you mean?" Lucy inquired quietly, fear now starting to drown her voice out. She was giving him a very apprehensive glare, since the conversation was starting to turn in a direction that she was uncomfortable with.

"I mean..." Gru started, very slowly turning back to her, now wearing an unexpected coy smile. "We're goeeng on a roadtreep."

* * *

 _Hope you liked the opening chapter. If you did, and you did choose to review, it's very much appreciated._

 _I probably won't update this story as frequently as I did with the other two, as I've got a tonne of other things going on in my life at the moment, and updating will be a little more difficult. But don't worry if I disappear for a week or two, another chapter will eventually come up._

 _Hopefully, I'll get the next one up in the next few days. See you then._


	2. Preparations

_Thanks to those who reviewed in the previous chapter. Again, apologies for the long wait, but for me, it's been a long, long week. Let's just say, revising sucks._

 _Anyway, I hope this was worth the wait._

* * *

 **Chapter Two -**  
 _ **Preparations**_

"A road trip?" Lucy repeated, looking at Gru with a slightly stunned expression.

"Yeah!" Gru cheered, his eyes shining bright with euphoria. Compared to how incredibly irate he seemed a moment ago, this elated mood was certainly unexpected and peculiar. "Why not!?"

"Well...because you're the director of an organization that's gotta protect the world." Lucy stated, in the same tone that a person would say 'duh'. "I mean, we can't just get up and leave for a few days."

"Lucy, theenk about eet." Gru argued, strutting up to her. Even though he was trying to convey his point and make her change her mind, he was struggling to stifle his lingering grin. "When was de last time we went on a vacation?"

"A few months ago." Lucy proclaimed, twisting her expression. "Y'know, when we met your twin brother."

"Okay, okay, let me rephrase de question." Gru countered, holding the bridge of his nose. "When was de last time we went on a vacation, where de gurls weren't keednapped and de city wasn't half destroyed?"

"Oh, well..." Lucy replied, turning away for a moment. "Never."

"Exactly!" Gru exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "Well, how about we rectify dat?"

Huffing, Lucy dropped her shoulders and darted her gaze around the room, showing she was clearly racking her mind senseless.

"I dunno, Gru." She sighed. "Like I said, what are we gonna do about the AVL? Head-office will kill you if the city gets attacked while we're gone."

"I don't care what head-office theenks, Lucy." Gru declared uncaringly, rolling his eyes in clear mental fatigue. "I just need to get away for a few days. Eef dey have a problem weeth dat, den dey can stuff deir stupeed director job."

Lucy only offered him a concerned glare. This was very much unlike Gru. Usually, he would care for his occupation and take it extremely seriously, but on this occasion, he didn't seem too bothered about the possibility of losing it.

Maybe he was right. Maybe he did need to get away. Lucy had been worried about her husband's sanity ever since the stress signs started emerging. The final straw had to be his over-the-phone rage-induced outburst at the army base a month back. In terms of remedies, a family road trip may be a very good idea.

And plus, excluding the Freedonia trip, it had been a very long time since she'd been on a proper vacation. The last time was with her ex-boyfriend, and that one was a bit of a bust. They went abroad to Tenerife, the largest of the canary islands, and they were plagued by a huge rain-storm the entire time, practically destroying any chance of having fun.

This time, not only would she be with a much, _much_ better partner, but she would also have three amazing daughters to have fun with. How could she possibly pass up on such an opportunity?

"Sooooo..." Gru sang, breaking the silence that had involuntarily built up. In an attempt to persuade her, he pulled one of the most pleading expressions he'd ever produced. "Are yoo een?"

"Well...don't say I didn't warn you." Lucy started, shrugging. "I'm in!"

"Yes!" The director cheered, fist pumping the air. He proceeded to dart around the room ecstatically, rummaging through a multitude of drawers and cupboards in search of their suitcase. "Here's de plan, den! I'll get de preparations ready, while yoo go distract everyone else. I want dis to be a surprise."

"Got it." Lucy replied, nodding. She started towards the bedroom door, but just before she disappeared out of the room, she turned back to look at her husband once more.

He looked as happy and bubbly as a young child who'd just been promised a lifetime of candy. And judging by the smile that slowly spread across Lucy's face, his joy seemed to be contagious.

This family road trip was starting to excite her just as much as it was exciting Gru, and the possibility of taking a breather from work was beginning to appeal to her. Don't get her wrong, she loves her job and the thought of slogging in a different job was awful, but everyone needs a break every once and a while.

She just hoped everything went right...

* * *

The owner of the bank of evil, Mr. Perkins, sat at his large and intimidating desk, spinning his weary gaze around the office. The expansive room had changed a large amount over the past few months, what with most of the furniture and decorative pieces being sold and auctioned for financial gain. Things within the villainy world were getting a lot rougher, and thus, money was at an all-time low.

Now that his son had been defeated, the strong and burly El Macho had been jailed, the quirky and old-school Balthazar Bratt had been thwarted, the commanding and viciously devilish IVB had met its demise, and the classy and crafty Venin had been thrown to his death from a large military tower, villainy was beginning to get less popular and more saturated.

And who was the person responsible?

 _Felonious Gru_.

The man simply didn't know when to quit.

When Vector managed to get his hands on the shrunken moon, what did he do? Put it back in its place.

When El Macho managed to create a band of vicious purple minions, what did he do? Cure them.

When the IVB finally had a good chance of destroying the AVL once and for all, what did he do? Save the headquarters.

The list goes on and on, and now, Perkins was finally at his limit. He was sick and tired of hearing that same old news report, the one where Gru saves the world from yet another crazy villain and their equally-as-crazy plan, especially considering that one of them was about his very own son.

And on the subject of Vector, Perkins was quite excited for him to arrive. It had been a fair few weeks since he'd last seen him, and even though he was still a little annoyed about the whole moon-thing, that didn't mean that he never wanted to see him again.

Vector had been through a lot since that event. For some reason, all of those days that he'd spent on the moon before getting rescued took a very large toll on him. When he came back to earth, he started going a little crazy, to the point where he was becoming a lot more erratic than normal. His lack of stability was so severe in fact, that he had to go to multiple therapists and health check-ups until he was okay again.

Now that he was regaining his mental state, Perkins was finally ready to move forward with his plan. He'd completely given up on hearing other villains plans, since most of them were stupidly amateur schemes with little to no substance delivered by a punky teenager who thinks they're better than the world. No, instead, he wanted to create his own evil plans...

...and it was time for Gru to get his comeuppance.

"Sir." A female voice suddenly spoke up, startling Mr. Perkins out of his thoughts. Clearing his throat and shaking his head back into reality, the large man planted a finger on the speaker's button and replied.

"Yes?"

"Your son is here." The secretary stated. Smiling evilly, Perkins didn't waste any time in responding.

"Send him in."

After a fairly short wait, the door to the office opened up, and Vector strolled in. Since the therapy sessions, he'd opted for a change in lifestyle, and thus, his attire was a lot different than the orange jumpsuit he'd adorned previously. Now, he wore a simple white tank top, which was covered in junk food stains, and dark blue jeans, which had small holes growing in them.

In fact, the change in lifestyle was so impacting, that he'd practically ditched villainy as a whole. He was beginning to find lounging around playing video games a lot more fulfilling than carrying out evil plots and schemes, and so, he'd adopted the former full-time.

He obviously wasn't regretting that decision.

"Hey, dad." Vector greeted nonchalantly, strutting proudly across the room. The sound of loose-change jingling in his pockets while he walked was irritatingly loud.

"Hello there, Victor." Mr. Perkins responded. "You're looking... _smart_ , today."

"Mm-hmm." Vector hummed nonchalantly, not seeming too bothered that he was using his 'nerd-name'. Flashbacks of his reaction a long while back flickered in Perkins's mind, and somewhere deep inside, it saddened him slightly. His son had changed so much since Gru had beaten him, and it was making him resent the AVL director that huge-chunk more. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Mr. Perkins responded, nodding his head. While Vector took a seat in front of the desk, Perkins spun around a little in his chair, rubbing his chin in pretend contemplation. "I had just been thinking that...it's been quite a while since I last saw you."

"Uh-huh." Vector responded, lifting his hands to check under his nails. This new, completely casual attitude that he'd embraced, which was better suited on a pubescent teenager, was a frustrating trait in Perkins's eyes.

"It has also been quite a while since you've carried out any evil plots," He continued, spinning around again until he was completely facing his son. Vector simply rolled his eyes and slouched in his chair, looking quite annoyed. "And I was thinking that we could-"

"Y'know what, stop right there!" Vector exclaimed, putting a hand up to silence him. "We've been over this, dad! That isn't who I am any more! Forget asking me to do any evil plans or plots or schemes or...whatever you wanna call it! All that villainy stuff is just so bor-"

"You did _NOT_ let me finish!" Perkins hissed, almost scaring Vector out of his skin. "I don't really care if that ' _isn't who you are any more_ '! I brought you up to be a villain, and whether you like it or not, _that_ is the life you will lead!"

"You can't control me!" Vector reprimanded, jumping up from his seat. "I ain't some little kid anymore, dad! You only have one life and I wanna lead it the way that _I_ want to! Not by the way that _you_ tell me to!"

"So what, you want to play video-games for the rest of your life!?" Perkins exclaimed, also electing to stand up out of his seat, in order to use his height advantage as an intimidation factor.

"If that's what I wanna do, then that's what I'm gonna do!" Vector stated authoritatively, trying with all of his might to push back his fear. The way in which his heart was banging in his chest wasn't helping in that regard. "You can complain all you want, you can't change who I am!"

"Fine! Waste your life away if that's what you want, but don't come crying to me when everything falls apart!" Perkins scolded angrily. Instead of responding, Vector simply narrowed his eyes and turned around, making his way towards the exit door. Huffing, Perkins sat back down on his chair and turned away, staring deeply at the bank vault behind his desk. "I guess I'll find someone else to help me take down Gru."

The moment that his name hit the air, Vector stopped dead still, as if he suddenly transformed into a statue made of stone. Very slowly, he turned back to his father's desk with a fiery frown, looking like he wanted to tear everything around him apart in anger.

" _Felonious_ Gru?" Vector questioned, perking his head to the side. Perkins spun back around in his chair and grinned devilishly, obviously feeling victorious.

"Mm-hmm." He replied, nodding. Balling his fists, Vector ceased eye-contact and darted his gaze at the floor, imagining the former villain's face in his mind. Not taking his line-of-sight away from the floorboards, Vector growled underneath his breath, which was quite timid and generally not frightening, before finally continuing.

"I'm in."

* * *

Jack was sat at the desk in his bedroom, staring intently at the online video that was being played on the laptop. In his hands, were a packet of ready salted chips, which he was occasionally digging into. He couldn't help but smile as he leaned back further into his chair, admiring the fact that he was using the laptop for something other than mind-numbing research.

However, at that point, the door to his bedroom opened up and Gru came dashing in, dropping his shoulders in slight relief once he spied the laptop on the desk.

"Ever heard of knocking?" Jack sneered, rolling his eyes and huffing as he set the bag of chips down.

"Are yoo eateeng _again_?" Gru inquired, sharing his baffled look between the teenager and the junk food.

"I'm still hungry." Jack replied, shrugging, as if he didn't understand the issue. Once he'd spied the shade of red in Gru's cheeks, which was due to the fatigue from his speedy searching, he sat up and offered him a sheepish look. "You still mad about the mess?"

"Hmph...a leetle." Gru informed, frowning as he remembered the absolute onslaught of trash downstairs.

"Well, I just wanna let you know that we cleaned it all up." Jack said, giving him a small smile. In return, Gru smiled back, but only until the teen continued. "And by 'we' I mean, _Dru_ cleaned it up, while I supervised."

Rolling his eyes and rubbing his sweaty forehead, Gru chose to ignore him and concentrate on the original reason for coming in here.

"I need de laptop." He stated, pointing at the device on the desk. Instead of handing it over like Gru thought he would, Jack glanced at the laptop for a moment, before looking back at his dad with a strange gaze.

"I'm using it."

"Yes, but...I need eet." Gru replied, irritation seeping into his voice.

"But I'm using it." Jack repeated, not seeming to care about the look of urgency on his face. The AVL director huffed with exasperation and gripped the bridge of his nose, before continuing in almost a pleading voice.

"Ugh...please, Jack, could yoo just give eet to me?" He spoke, offering a beseeching gaze.

"Well, what do you need it for?" Jack asked, sitting back with a small grin. He was clearly pleased that he was in a power position, one of which he wasn't going to pass up.

"Eet's none of your business." Gru grumbled, still gripping the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Hmm...that's not gonna do, Gru." Jack replied, turning away with a fake look of displeasure. "I'm gonna need a lot more info than that if you want this laptop."

"Ugh...fine! Eet's top secret AVL stuff dat yoo wouldn't understand." He responded quickly, getting more and more skittish as time went by. This time, Jack simply cocked his head to the side and gave a Gru a 'are you being serious' look.

"Gru, I _work_ for the AVL. Remember?" He replied. "If it's work-related then I wanna know what's going on."

"Right, yoo've lead me to dis!" Gru exclaimed, putting a finger in his face. Without warning, he turned around and opened the door a crack, as to allow him to call down the hallway. "Ohhhhhh, Agnes! Jack said dat he wants to play unicornnnssss!"

Upon hearing the distant sounds of high-pitched cheering, Gru grinned evilly and turned back to the eighteen-year-old, who had his arms crossed and was frowning with rage.

"Uhhh...I theenk yoo are needed." He said, struggling to stifle a devilish cackle. Groaning with both defeat and vexation, Jack got up from his seat and stormed out of the room, but not before turning back and handing Gru one last threat.

"I'm gonna get you back for that!" He fumed, as Gru continued to smirk with victory.

"Yeah, yeah. Eef yoo say so." He responded mockingly. Jack simply stuck out his tongue in retaliation before leaving the room promptly. Not wanting to waste any more time, Gru leaped over and snatched the laptop from the table-top, before dashing out of the room at pace.

* * *

Jack walked into the girl's bedroom with a fatigued slog, where inside, Margo and Edith were conversing on the former's bomb bed, while Agnes was frantically rummaging through her closet. The moment that her brother walked into the room, Edith lifted her head and gave him a disgusted look, as if she were a member of the royal family looking down on a peasant.

"You _want_ to play unicorns?" She questioned with a grimace.

"Nuh-uh." Jack replied defensively, trudging over to them. "Gru just lied to steal the laptop from me."

"So then, why did you go along with it?" Margo asked, handing him an intrigued look. After she voiced her question, Agnes came speeding out of the closet with an arm-full of unicorn toys and sparkly dresses, which she proceeded to dump on the floor.

The look of complete and utter joy on her face was extremely cute.

"That's why." He replied simply, nodding his head in her direction.

"Which one d'ya wanna be?" Agnes questioned, as she happily jumped on the spot. Jack stared down at the frightening amount of glittery girly dresses, which, to make things worse, were all colored pink, and winced.

"Uh...anyone that doesn't involve dressing up." He replied.

"Ummm..." Agnes hummed, as she kneeled down and started rummaging through the pile of dresses and toys. "If you be the unicorn butler, you only have to put on a horn."

She lifted up a strap-on unicorn horn, which was covered in hearts and glitter, and presented it to Jack, who seemed far from pleased with that option.

"Agnes, I'm down for pretending to be a unicorn, but _looking_ like a unicorn is going too far." He said, scowling at the girly object in the small girl's hands. "Can't we just...play hide and seek or something?"

"Awwww! But I wanna play _unicorns_!" Agnes groaned loudly, stamping her foot in a sulk. Huffing, and already tired of arguing, Jack reluctantly held out his hand and frowned deeply.

"Ugh, fine." He muttered. "Just give me the horn."

Cheering with elation, Agnes handed the sparkly monstrosity to the teenager, who gave it an exceedingly disgusted look. For a few seconds, all he could do was stare at it and wish that he could somehow erase it from existence. The very thought of putting it on his head made him want to gag.

Finally, after a small amount of mental preparation, the teenager let out an exhausted sigh before unwillingly strapping it to his head. Once he had done, Edith started hysterically laughing and pointing at him, only making Jack's frown grow larger. Agnes, on the other hand, seemed delighted.

"I call the unicorn princess!" She screeched quickly, as she pulled out the sparkliest and girliest dress in the pile, coupled with yet another fake unicorn horn. Not wanting to waste any precious pretending time, she speedily put the dress over her blue and yellow overalls, and proceeded to twirl around in happiness.

Jack, who was clearly overwhelmed by the uncomfortable amount of glitter and pink, desperately needed to take a very long and uninterrupted breather, in order to keep a hold of his sanity.

"Right, here's what's going down then." He started, kneeling down to her level. "The evil wizard of the living room plains has kidnapped your husband, the unicorn prince!"

Agnes gave a fake gasp of complete shock, which coupled with her pretend facial expression, was enough to make Jack chuckle slightly.

"I know. It's shocking." He continued. "Anyway, your job is to travel to the plains and take him back from the wizard, while the unicorn butler stays and protects the castle from any more evil bad-guys. Understand?"

"Uh-huh!" Agnes responded giddily, as she rapidly nodded her head up and down in excitement.

"Good." Jack stated. "Now, get going, before it's too late."

At pace, Agnes sprinted out of the room and started towards the living room, seeming intensely determined to find and save her pretend unicorn husband.

However, in reality, she would most likely head downstairs, pretend to search for him for ten minutes, before getting bored and playing with the nearest toy she could find.

Sighing with slight relief, Jack stood back up and turned to his other two siblings, one of whom was rolling around on her bomb bed and sporting flushed cheeks due to the uncontrollable laughter. In annoyance, the teen grabbed the unicorn horn and flung it to the floor, before moving to stand over her.

"Would you shut up!" He snapped. Edith simply responded by sticking out her tongue, as she finally calmed down and sat back up, giving her brother enough space to sit down beside her.

"Why would you put that on for?" She asked, still giggling a little.

"Cuz it's easier than arguing, Edith." Jack mumbled, rubbing his forehead. The need for sleep was obviously extremely apparent. "Plus it's only a horn. Thank god I didn't have to wear one of those god-forbidden sparkly dresses."

Jack continued trying to rub the tired out of his eyes, which he was failing at, before re-opening them and looking over at the bespectacled twelve-year-old within the room. She was sitting on her bomb bed with her arms crossed and wearing an enraged frown. Considering recent events, it didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce the reason why.

"So, Margo?" Jack started, making her turn towards him slightly. "Why did you punch that kid?"

"He took Agnes's unicorn." She muttered, shrugging. "Plus he said something about Edith. I wasn't gonna let him get away with that."

"Good." Jack replied, proceeding to turn to Edith. "What did he say about you?"

"Just sumin' about my hat." She responded, looking back at her brother with a humorous smile. "Margo punched him before he could finish, though."

Jack chuckled and looked back to the twelve-year-old, who still seemed ashamed and angry at herself. Inside, he actually got a little defensive for her. There's no need to be ashamed of yourself after you stand up for your siblings.

"Don't worry about it, Margo." He said. "I would've done the same. If you don't teach 'em a lesson, then they'll just keep doing it."

"Do you think dad's mad at me?" She asked, ignoring his reassurance.

"Probably," Edith replied. "But he's mad at me as well, so...who cares?"

"Why did he get so angry, though?" Jack questioned out loud, looking at the ground perplexingly. "I mean, you've only failed five times. I failed like... _twenty_ times when I was at school."

"I don't think he likes being director." Margo wondered out loud. "He always looks so tired when he comes back from work."

"Why wouldn't he like being director?" Edith asked. "Kicking butts all day sounds awesome."

"It isn't what you think it is, Edith." Jack claimed. "Like, twenty percent of it is kicking butts. The rest is super boring stuff like paperwork."

"Why does he keep doing it then?" Edith questioned again.

"I dunno. If I was him, I'd just go back to being an agent. Then you get to fight villains all day long _without_ all the boring stuff."

"Dinners ready." A female voice called suddenly, as Lucy's head appeared from the door. All three of them turned to her with slight surprise, but upon realizing that it was just their mother, returned to their previous causal state.

"It is?" Jack inquired, offering her a confused glare. "But...I just gave Gru the laptop. How can he use that and cook dinner at the same time?"

"Uh...because he didn't cook dinner." She replied, looking a little nervous. " _I_ did."

" _You_ cooked dinner?" Margo questioned, seeming a mix of afraid and befuddled.

"Uh-huh." Lucy confirmed, nodding.

"And you're sure you can, like... _actually_ eat it?" Margo asked again, dropping her head a little. Lucy, who had a history of cooking terrible tasting food, rolled her eyes and huffed, trying to pass off all the doubts as just stupid jokes.

In reality, however, Margo's fear was completely genuine, and all of her questions were far from jokes. Unsurprisingly, she didn't fancy getting poisoned by Lucy's cooking.

"Of course!" Lucy stated loudly, grinning. "Come on, just give me a chance."

All three of them shrugged, jumped up from the bomb beds, and then started towards the door. However, just before he and the girls left, Jack stopped and took his smartphone out from his pocket, where he started pressing his finger upon the screen.

"Let me just get the ambulance on standby." He said sardonically, while Margo and Edith giggled. As he continued to press buttons for a few seconds, Lucy crossed her arms and frowned at him, beginning to wonder if he was actually being serious.

"Don't worry, I'm kidding." He reassured, putting his phone back in his pocket and smirking as the redhead rolled her eyes and left the room. However, once she'd disappeared, Jack took it back out and ensured that 911 was definitely on speed-dial. "Although, it wouldn't hurt to be safe..."

* * *

Thankfully, after the whole family, except for Gru, ate the meal, no hospital trips for food poisoning were required. However, the food still, somehow, tasted as bland as tap-water, and it was a slog at times to finish it.

Now though, the girls and Jack were playing upstairs, Dru was working with Dr. Nefario in the lab, and Lucy was sitting quietly in the living room, reading a book. At the moment, her husband couldn't be found anywhere in the house, and although she didn't have enough time to search the entire lab, Lucy was fairly sure he'd gone out somewhere.

This road trip idea had clearly tickled him, and that fact alone was enough to do the same to Lucy. He'd been so stressed and tired over the past few weeks, and she was happy to see him jubilant and excited again, even if that may cause a few fatigue problems later on down the line.

But, the trip wasn't just exciting Gru, it was also exciting Lucy to no-end as well. Ideas of the many different activities that her and the girls could participate in were spinning around her head like a hurricane, and she was itching to get started.

She was also itching to tell everyone about it. They were sure to get extremely excited, and nothing else pleased her more than seeing everyone in her family smile with joy.

Soon enough, the sound of the front door opening could be heard, and only a moment later, Gru came dashing into the room. His cheeks were a dark shade of red and his mouth was curled into an overly contented smile, which made him look a mix of exhausted and elated.

"Woah, woah. Slow down, sweetie." She spoke up, giggling a little as he thundered his way over to the couch. "You're gonna give yourself a heart-attack."

"Lucy!" Gru exclaimed, jogging a little on the spot. "Have yoo put de gurls to bed yet!?"

"Uh...no, not yet." She replied, offering him a questioning expression. "I was gonna give them another half-hour."

"Good!" Gru cheered promptly. He raced over and picked up the laptop from the coffee table, before sprinting back to the couch and putting it in Lucy's lap, startling her slightly. "Look at what I bought!"

Lucy gave him another bewildered look, which must've been the twentieth one she'd given him that day, before obliging and opening the device up. On the screen, an eBay listing for a huge campervan coupled with a large descriptive text box caught her eye.

It detailed that the van sported a TV, a mini kitchen, a toilet, a table and four different small sofas. Not only that, but the image showed that there was clearly enough space for more than seven people, and overall, it looked perfect for a long family road trip.

"Wow." Lucy cooed, giving the web-listing a wide-eyed stare. "That looks... _amazing_. How much did it cost?"

"Eh, eet's not eemportant." Gru replied, shrugging, which pretty much guaranteed that he splurged an ungodly amount of cash on it. "Eet's got everytheeng dat we need, so dat's all dat matters."

"Uh...if...you say so." Lucy responded. "So, when are you gonna get it from them?"

"I already have!" Gru cheered loudly. "Dey only lived a few miles away, so I got eet from dem just now."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh!" Gru replied happily, nodding. "I've also done all of de planneeng and got all of our theengs ready, so, I theenk we're ready to leave tomorrow!"

"That's awesome, Gru!" Lucy celebrated, getting up from her seat and hugging her husband tightly. She was expecting to wait a whole week before leaving for the trip, not just one night. "I can't _wait_ to tell the girls!"

"Woo! Me too!" Gru exclaimed, pulling out of the hug. He quickly scampered across the room and slammed his palm on the rhino button, making the elevator ascend out of the floor. "Yoo go upstairs to de gurl's room, and I'll go get Dru. Then, once we've met yoo up dere, we'll tell everyone at de same time."

Instead of responding with actual, sensical words, Lucy simply let out an excited squeal and hurtled out of the room at pace, just as Gru did the same in the elevator. The air of complete excitement was massively apparent, and the most energetic people in the house hadn't even found out yet.

Once they had done, things were sure to get loud...

* * *

The inside of the girl's bedroom was fairly quiet that night. Margo was sitting silently on her bomb bed, reading one of the many novels she adored, Edith was using the pink dumbbell she got for her birthday, Agnes was playing happily with some toys on the floor, and Jack was sitting deadly still in the corner, trying to keep his eyes open.

Eventually, when her arms were starting to sting and wobble uncomfortably, Edith put down the dumbbell and ran over to Jack, lightly kicking his leg to get his attention.

"Jack!" She yelled, startling the teen out of his half-awake state. "Look how big my arms are!"

Edith ecstatically rolled up her sleeve and tensed her bicep proudly, which, considering she was still quite young, and considering she was only lifting a kilogram weight, were fairly small. Jack chuckled and sat up completely, pretending to look absolutely shocked.

"Woah!" He giggled. "Those are _massive_! You gotta stop, cuz they're gonna get bigger than mine."

"No way! I'm never gonna stop!" Edith exclaimed, rolling down her sleeves again and shaking her head defensively. "I need big arms for when I join the AVL!"

"Ohhh, I see." Jack replied, grinning. "Well, since your arms are already pretty big, how about we start giving you some AVL training?"

Edith gasped in delight.

"Really!?" She exclaimed, smiling with pure glee.

"If you want to." Edith didn't need much time to nod her head rapidly in agreement. Battling his fatigued legs, the exhausted eighteen-year-old stood up and crossed his arms, his smile growing wider and more evil. "Okay, so, one thing you gotta get used to at the AVL, is being kidnapped."

"I'm already used to that." Edith said, shrugging nonchalantly, as if there was nothing wrong with what she just said. The very fact that a ten-year-old was now used to being kidnapped was obviously completely out of the ordinary.

But, let's be real, what _isn't_ out of the ordinary in the Gru house?

"Okay, well, it won't hurt to get _more_ used to it." He continued, rolling his eyes. "So...let's see how you deal with this."

Without a single shred of warning, Jack quickly kneeled down and lifted Edith over his shoulders, almost startling the living daylights out of her. Once she clocked what was happening, she immediately squirmed and giggled in his grasp, trying with all of her might to escape. But, although he wasn't holding her tight enough to actually hurt her, Jack's grip was just too strong, and she was struggling to fidget her way out.

"Come on, Edith." He sneered, chuckling proudly. "You'd be dead by now if this was real."

Starting to get a little frustrated, Edith huffed and turned to her two siblings, electing to switch from the squirming tactic.

"Margo! Agnes!" She called, making the two lift their heads and look up at her. "Help me out here."

By the time Jack had turned around to give them a ' _I bet you won't beat me_ ' look, Agnes was already on her feet and aiming a small nerf gun at him, which she hastily pulled the trigger of. A tiny rubber dart flew at speed towards Jack's head, and in an attempt to block it, he stepped back and used his free arm to protect his face.

However, what he hadn't noticed, was that Margo had used that time to sneak behind him and get down on all fours, and by the time he'd seen her, he was already toppling towards the ground. While he fell through the air, Edith leaped from Jack's much weaker grip and landed safely on her feet, as he tumbled comfortably into a pile of pillows stacked against the wall.

For a moment, the teen didn't even register that he'd just been shown up by three young girls, but when he looked back up at their conceited expressions, it finally clicked in his head.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He bellowed, sulking like a little boy. "You're not allowed to get help!"

"You didn't make that a rule." Margo jeered, grinning boastfully. "Therefore, it's allowed."

The three of them proceeded to high-five each other in victory, the youngest of whom seemed as ecstatic as ever. For a few seconds, Jack just looked a mix of angry and ashamed, but eventually, he realized something.

The fact that three little girls, one of whom was a whole twelve-years-younger than Jack, managed to outsmart someone with years of actual IVB and AVL training was actually pretty impressive. It just showed the kind of connection they'd built up over the years, and although he felt a little embarrassed to be defeated so easily, it actually made him smile a little.

Yes, it was just a little bit of playful fun, and yes, if he was an actual bad guy, being tripped up into a pile of pillows was never going to defeat him, but it was a very promising start.

When they got older, they were sure to be a formidable group.

At that moment, the door practically exploded open as Lucy came sprinting into the room with a wide and overly hysterical smile. However, upon realizing how suspicious her overzealous expression looked, she slowed herself down and pulled a calm expression to her face, pretending that the eccentric entrance never happened.

"Hey." She said, trying to act as casual as she possibly could. However, her attempts were proving unsuccessful, as her uncharacteristic nonchalance was looking more suspicious than ever.

After a moment of trying to hide her overflowing excitement, she concentrated on her three daughters, who were happily standing over a frowning Jack. By the look of total elation on their faces, Lucy couldn't help but smile a little with them.

"Having fun?"

"Hmm... _tonnes_ of fun." Jack mumbled sarcastically, sinking further back into the pillows. It was getting harder and harder to stop himself from giving up and falling asleep as the seconds went by.

"Mom! Guess what!" Agnes cheered joyfully, as she dashed over to Lucy and latched onto her leg. "We won!"

"You did!?" Lucy chuckled, kneeling down and picking her up in her arms. "What did you win?"

"Edith was lifting her heavy pink thing and then she went over to Jack to show him her arms and then Jack told her to stop using it 'cuz they were getting really big and then Edith said about the AVL and then Jack kidnapped her and then I shot him with a gun and then he fell over and then _WE WON_!" Agnes explained, at a speed of which Lucy could barely interpret.

"Ohhhh." Lucy said, obviously only pretending to understand. "That's...that's _brilliant_ , sweetie."

Agnes seemed satisfied with that reaction, and with a happy smile, she jumped back down to her feet and got back to playing an imaginary game with her toys. But, just as she delved back into her made-up universe, a realization came to her, and she looked back up at Lucy with a solemn expression.

"Do we have to go to bed now?"

"Well...yeah...in a few minutes." Lucy replied, struggling to contain the secret that was hanging from the tip of her tongue. She really couldn't wait for Gru and Dru to get up here, because she was unsure of how much longer she could hold it in.

"Can't we just stay up for a _little bit_ longer?" Agnes requested, unleashing the dreaded puppy-dog eyes that almost always got her what she wanted. However, unbeknownst to her, they were never going to work on this occasion, not with the events of tomorrow morning looming around the corner.

"No, no, you've had long enough." Lucy said. "We don't want to be tired for school tomorrow, do we?"

"No..." Agnes mumbled, dropping her head in a sulk.

"Right, well, let's get you ch-"

However, before Lucy could finish, the door to the girl's bedroom opened up again, and she interrupted herself to confirm who was coming in. The moment that she spied Gru and Dru, she jumped to her feet and speedily dashed over to stand beside them, startling the two of them a little.

"So...what's goeeng on?" Dru asked, as he handed his brother a befuddled look. Not wanting to waste another second, Gru smiled and wrapped an arm around a bubbly Lucy, as the couple turned to the rest of the family with a cheerful expression.

"Well...uh...gurls, Dru, Jack...I have a leetle surprise." Gru started, smiling wide.

"A surprise!?" Edith questioned loudly. "What surprise!?"

"Is it a unicorn!?" Agnes spoke up, her eyes glowing brightly with hope.

"Pfft...what a lame surprise that would be." Edith rebuked, rolling her eyes.

"No, it wouldn't!" Agnes argued, crossing her arms angrily. "Unicorns are _cool_!"

"Nuh-uh! Unicorns suck! Unless it poops candy, I'm not interested!"

"Now, _that_ would be cool!" Jack butted in.

"Ees eet a candy-pooping unicorn!?" Dru exclaimed at a blurred speed, giving Gru an overly intrigued questioning look.

"Well, eef yoo'd let me feenish, den I'll tell you!" Gru stated loudly, making everyone go quiet and look up at him with eyes full of anticipation. Taking a breath, the AVL director smiled and started the announcement that he'd been so excited to let out. "So...seence everytheeng has been kinda boreeng lately...and seence we haven't spent dat much time together as a family recently...I was theenkeeng dat...maybe...eet would be a good idea eef we-"

Unable to handle his very slow and dramatic reveal, Lucy leaped high into the air and finished his sentence with a voice full of cheer.

"GO ON A _ROADTRIP_!"

Immediately, a chorus of several delighted gasps arose into the air, as everyone in the room smiled with unbridled glee.

"A road trip!?" Agnes yelped.

"Woah...cool." Jack cooed.

"That's so _awesome_!" Edith cheered.

"EET'S GONNA BE SO MUCH _FUNNNNN_!" Dru yelled, as he ran over and picked up his brother in a tight and enthralled hug. "WE CAN SPEND ALL DAY WEETH EACH OTHER AND GO TO DE BEACH AND PLAY BOARD GAMES AND-"

"Yes, yes, eet's gonna be great!" Gru exclaimed, lightly pushing his energetic brother off of him. "Just...stop squeezeeng me so tight."

"So, when are we going?" Margo asked, seeming a mix of collected and jubilant.

"Well, seence _yoo_ don't need to go to school tomorrow," Gru started, giving his eldest daughter a semi-serious frown. "And seence I've already got everytheeng ready...I guess, we can...go tomorrow!"

"YESSSSSSS!" Agnes screeched, running over and cuddling Gru and Lucy's legs. "I'M SO _EXCITED_!"

Like clockwork, the rest of the family gathered in for a joyful hug, each one of them displaying their own individual bright smile. Road trips can be one of the most fun things ever, especially when it's with your family.

"But dere ees only one small problem..." Gru began, as he dispersed the group hug and caught the attention of everyone in the room. "Yoo will need to pack your bags and get ready to leave tomorrow...

"...for 4am."

"What...?" Jack and Edith both mumbled with a dead tone, their faces dropping like a tonne of bricks.

* * *

 _Sincerely hope you enjoyed. Will try and post the next chapter ASAP, but again, it's been a difficult task getting through this. It's lucky that I love this family so much, otherwise it could've been a longer wait._

 _Also, I just wanted to give another thanks to the reviewers. I've received a tonne of really nice words and it's really helped push me to write more. It genuinely means a lot._


	3. The Beach Trip

_I know I've said it a million times at this point, but thanks for all the reviews. Honestly means a tonne._

 _I know I've taken ages to get this out, but I've made this chapter much longer than the first two, so I hope that makes up for it. Hope it doesn't disappoint :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Three -**  
 _ **The Beach Trip**_

The girls' bedroom was filled with a peaceful tranquility. Apart from both the very faint sounds of the outside breeze and the tiny, barely audible snores of the three sisters, not a sound could be heard. And even though everyone inside of the room was sunken into the far depths of sleep, there was an air of excitement.

Because, of course, today was the first day of the road trip.

The three girls couldn't stop talking about it the night prior. They'd stayed up for an hour past their bedtime, quietly conversing about the mounds of fun they were sure to have. Or, the mounds of fun they were _hoping_ to have. They could only guess, since they'd never been on a road trip before. From the excitement in Lucy's voice when she announced it, it must be an enjoyable experience.

However, saying that, the early morning wake-up was a lot less than ideal. What need was there to wake up at 4am? It wasn't like they had to catch a flight or anything, since this whole road trip was planned and set up by Gru alone. Maybe he was just so excited, that he didn't want to waste any time sleeping, which was fairly understandable.

And then finally, as the ticking clock clicked over to 4am, Dru exploded through the door and into the dark room, hammering the tranquility to pieces.

"WAKKKEEEE UPPPPPPPPP!" He sang, as he energetically switched the bedroom light on and off at an uncomfortably rapid pace.

"Wha...what's going o-" Agnes murmured, as she sat up in bed perplexingly. However, before she could finish, the reminder of today's events hit her like a battering ram, and her face immediately brightened up like the sun. "ROAD TRIP!"

As if she'd acquired the energy of a million energy drinks, the bubbly six-year-old leaped out of bed and speedily sprinted out of the room, not looking back for a second.

Margo could only chuckle and jog after her, however, at nowhere near the pace that her youngest sister was using. Unfortunately, unlike Agnes, she didn't possess an indestructible ball of pure energy, that would be there no matter what the time of day.

But, from one extreme to the next, Edith literally couldn't move.

This was way, _way_ too early for her. In fact, it was so ungodly early, that she was completely failing to comprehend the existence of her surroundings. Was she even alive? She could barely tell.

Finally getting tired of flicking the light switch on and off, Dru raced over to her bomb bed and shook her dead still figure, only receiving a very faint moan in response.

"EDDDDIIIITTTTTHHHHH!" He yelled at an uncomfortable decibel level, all the time retaining a beaming smile. "COME ONNNN! Eet's time to wake up!"

"...wha...?" She replied. That was the only word her brain currently remembered, if you could even call that a word. Tired of trying to speak to someone who was clearly incoherent, Dru picked her up out of bed, flew out of the bedroom at pace, and started his way towards the kitchen...

* * *

Even though he was fairly fatigued, Gru was running frantically up and down the house, his mind deep in concentration. In his hands, he held a clipboard, which he'd attached a list of necessities too. On that list, he'd detailed things like money, clothes, the house key, and the girls, you know, just in case he forgot about them.

As he stood in the upstairs hallway, absentmindedly tapping the clipboard with his pen, he took a quick glance at his digital watch. According to the red LED's, the time was '4:01AM', meaning that he'd now been awake for forty-five minutes.

Considering the sting at the back of his eye-lids, maybe staying bed and getting more sleep would've been a good idea, but also considering how excited he was to get the road-trip going, the thought of wasting time under his sheets was ludicrous.

And on the subject of wasting time under the sheets, Gru went over and knocked hard on Jack's bedroom door, to ensure that he would definitely wake up to the sound of it. Obviously, akin to Edith, he was a very deep sleeper, and when it came to waking up, it was sometimes a battle to leave his bed.

However, to Gru's surprise, when he opened the door to enter the bedroom, the teenager was already awake, fully dressed, and lifting his dumbbells in front of the mirror.

For a moment, Gru could hardly believe his eyes, since he was expecting a long and hefty argument about how he needed to wake up right now and get himself dressed if he wanted to avoid a series of unsatisfying consequences.

It appeared that wasn't the case.

"Did you want something?" Jack mumbled, not looking away from the image of himself in the mirror.

"Oh...I just..." Gru started, still a little perplexed. "Wanted to make sure yoo were awake."

"Hmm...well, I am." The eighteen-year-old replied, seeming extremely concentrated on the heavy-lifting. Even though he wasn't particularly delighted about waking up at this time, he also wasn't particularly annoyed about it either.

How could he be annoyed when the excitement was running through his veins like a train on tracks? This would obviously be the first family road trip he would ever be involved in, since this was the first time he'd had a proper family, and he just couldn't wait to get started.

There wasn't much in Jack's mind that topped spending every minute of the day with the six people that meant the absolute world to him, and the very thought was making him giddy with glee.

"Okay, well...great!" Gru exclaimed, happy that the need for an altercation was non-existent. He turned around and stepped out of the room, looking down to spy the next item on the checklist. "We'll all be downstairs when yoo're ready."

"Wait! Gru?" Jack called at the last moment, finally putting the dumbbell down. Looking back up from the clipboard, the former villain turned back into the room and offered Jack a questioning gaze. "Could I ask you something?"

"Uh...sure..." Gru replied, that questioning gaze growing stronger. "What ees eet?"

"What's the deal with this road trip?"

"De deal?" Gru replied, seeming perplexed. "What do yoo mean 'de deal'?"

"Well, you looked like you were gonna bust a blood vessel yesterday." Jack started, recalling Gru's aggressive outburst in the living room the previous day. "You seemed, like, proper angry with everyone. And now we're all suddenly going on some happy jolly family road trip. What's the deal with that?"

"Oh, well...dere eesn't a deal." Gru stated, shrugging casually. "Why does dere need to be a deal? Why can't I just want to go on a road treep weeth my famil-"

"It's the job, isn't it?" Jack questioned knowingly, crossing his arms. "You're just tired of being director and you want an excuse to ditch it, don't you?"

He wasn't wrong. But, since Gru didn't want him to think that he was only doing this for himself, and not at all for his family, he wasn't going to just stand there and admit to it.

"Pfft...how stupeed!" Gru exclaimed, frowning defensively. "Dat ees not de case _at all_! I just want to spend time weeth my family! Do yoo have an _eessue_ weeth dat!?"

Gru narrowed his eyes in iration, seeming to provide Jack's theory with more evidence. The teen slumped his shoulders and offered him a fatigued gaze. He wasn't necessarily in the mood for an argument, since he really wanted the first day of his first ever road trip to go perfectly.

"Gru, you're getting angry just talking about it." He said, now in a much softer tone of voice. "I don't really care if you are. I'm just interested."

"Well, don't be." Gru stated firmly, with a tad too harsh tone. The former villain turned towards the door and left, leaving Jack to stand there with a frown. "Just get ready and come downstairs."

At the sound of his door being slammed shut, the exhausted teenager sighed and rolled his eyes. He wasn't fantastic in deducing expressive cues and actions, but it was painfully clear that Gru was stressed and tired.

A large part of Jack was genuinely worried about him, since, even though he wasn't an expert in psychology, he was fairly sure that being stressed regularly was very bad for you.

Well, maybe this family road trip could be the ideal solution to that problem...

* * *

Gru paced quickly into the kitchen, where inside, Margo and Agnes were sitting quietly at the table, eating breakfast. Along with them, sitting atop one of the red stools, was Dr. Nefario, who was reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee.

"Ah, dere yoo are, Nefario." Gru spoke, strutting over to him. The tired elderly scientist didn't offer him much attention, as he was obviously, and quite understandably, frustrated with being awake at four-in-the-morning. "So, are yoo okay weeth feedeeng Kyle and Lucky while we're gone?"

"' _Okay_ ' isn't the right word." Nefario mumbled, still not offering any eye-contact.

"Great!" Gru exclaimed, ignoring the snarky response and substituting it with the words he wanted to hear. "Now, last chance, are yoo sure dat yoo do not want to come weeth us?"

Just as the question left his mouth, Dru came thundering into the kitchen with Edith laying mostly asleep over his shoulder, and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I'M SO _EXCITEEEDDDD_!" He bellowed deafeningly, as he practically threw Edith down into the booth seat and sat down opposite her. At the sound of his voice hammering the sound-barrier, Nefario winced uncomfortably and lowered his head further in frustration.

" _Very_ sure."

At that moment, Jack happily wandered into the kitchen, his mouth curled into an extremely bright and jolly smile. He gave his sisters a wink as a greeting, and in return, Margo and Agnes responded with a smile.

Edith, on the other hand, was still not functioning in the slightest. She had her head lulled back comfortably into the booth seat, and very slowly, her mouth was starting to hang open.

The teenager rolled his eyes and moved over to the kettle, which had already been boiled by Gru a few minutes earlier. He grabbed a mug, filled it with a whole ten teaspoons of coffee granules, poured in hot water and milk, and then moved over to sit beside Edith, who was now beginning to snore.

"Jeez, I thought _I_ loved sleep." Jack commented, marveling at his little sister with a chuckle.

"Yeah, she's always been like that." Margo said, shrugging as she continued to eat her cereal. "The amount of times she's fallen asleep at school is crazy."

"I don't blame her." Jack replied, cringing at the old memories of sitting in complete boredom inside a school classroom. "School _suckkksss_."

He took a sip from his mug, and upon tasting the bitter strength of ten teaspoons of coffee granules, he couldn't help but recoil and grimace. Like a lot of people around the world, he drank coffee on a daily basis, but it was usually of a more tolerable strength. This cup of coffee, on the other hand, was far from tolerable.

However, he needed that strength in order to keep himself awake throughout the day. Considering the fun he could be having with his family, the thought of falling asleep and wasting precious road trip time was less than ideal, so this coffee would hopefully act as a sleep deterrent.

And that's when he got an idea...

Edith was now slowly starting to lull her head against Jack's arm, and as she did so, the teenager grabbed her and gently shook her awake.

"Edith." He whispered, as she steadily cracked open her eyes and gave him a sheepish glare, which Jack was finding annoyingly cute. He pushed the mug of coffee directly in front of her and pointed at it. "Drink this."

Edith sluggishly looked at the cup in front of her in confusion, and upon realizing how much energy was required for her to lean forward and grab the mug, she ignored his request and lulled her head against his arm again. Jack huffed and glared at her in annoyance, while Margo leaned over and curiously inspected the contents of the cup.

Once the incredibly strong smell hit her senses, it didn't take a genius to realize what it was.

"Is that coffee?" She asked, giving Jack an irate look.

"Obviously." Jack replied as matter-of-factly, not seeming to understand the reasoning behind the furious look she was giving him.

"You can't give her that!" She exclaimed. "She's only ten. Ten-year-olds shouldn't drink coffee."

Before Jack could respond with his non-caring scoff, Edith's rebellious side took heed to her older sister's words, and with the very little energy she had left, forced herself forward to grab the cup.

Even though the taste was almost unbearably bitter, Edith kept downing as much of the drink as she could, to the point where even Jack looked pretty worried.

At this moment, Gru absentmindedly looked up from the checklist to snatch a glance of his daughters, just as he usually did when his concentration hadn't been on them for a little while. Once he'd seen Edith drinking from Jack's mug, he felt his heart skip a beat in fear, hoping sincerely that what he thought he was seeing wasn't true.

"Jack...?" Gru started, his voice drained a little in trepidation. "Ees dat...are yoo...deed yoo just give her cof-"

However, before Gru could finish his sentence, Edith slammed the cup down and leaped onto the table effervescently. For a few seconds, she simply stood there, her whole body vibrating with pure energy.

She looked like a bubbling volcano that was simply waiting to erupt.

"I tried to tell him, dad..." Margo muttered, knowing exactly what the next few hours were sure to entail.

Without warning, Edith then leaped down to the floor and started sprinting swiftly around the kitchen in circles, giggling the entire time. While Gru and Margo were both giving her apprehensive looks, as if they were unsure as to what she was going to do next, Jack simply sat back and smiled, as if he'd just pulled off the most satisfying victory.

"Ooo! I want some of that!" Agnes exclaimed, as she leaned forward to snatch the mug from the table. However, thankfully for the family's sanity, Gru had reached it first.

"I don't theenk so." He said firmly. He immediately picked up the cup, moved over to the sink, and drained the remnants down the plughole, ensuring that no other child could be filled to the brim with frustrating energy.

However, as he turned around, he didn't notice Edith sprinting right in front of him, and once he had, he tried to pull himself backward in order to avoid hurting her. But, in doing so, his worn-out muscles gave up, and he ended up falling to the floor in a heap.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Margo asked worryingly, as she jumped up from the table and rushed over to him.

"Yes! Yes! I am okay." Gru responded gruffly, rubbing a hand over his tired eyes. At speed, he lifted his head and darted it around the room, preparing to target and yell at his middle-daughter.

However, she was nowhere to be found. She must've realized her mistake quickly and raced out of the kitchen before she faced the consequences.

Lucy then confirmed that suspicion when she entered the kitchen, giving the occupants a perplexed glare.

"Uh...why is Edith running up and down the hallway?" She asked. But, before she received her response, she was met with another question that needed answering. "And...why are you on the floor?"

"Ask _heem_!" Gru snapped, getting up to his feet and pointing a finger at Jack, who simply turned away and shrugged.

"Long story." He muttered nonchalantly, in a voice that implied his innocence. After a moment, he turned back to Gru and gave him a victorious smirk, one that pushed Gru closer to the edge. "Told you I'd get you back."

Pushing back the explosion of rage that threatened to burst from his mouth, Gru growled and tried with all of his might to calm himself down. There was no need to get so angry over something that would surely be beneficial in the end.

It would be better to have Edith awake and energetic than asleep and silent, wouldn't it?

Right?

Either way, there were still things to be done, and in order to avoid wasting another second that they could spend on the road, Gru turned to his other daughters and indicated for them to follow.

"Come on, gurls. Let's get yoo changed."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, after continuing his way through the list of necessities, Gru carried everyone's bags into the camper van that was parked outside, where he found Dru sitting on the sofa, bouncing up and down and squealing to himself.

Wincing, Gru huffed and dumped the bags on the floor, panting as he gave his brother a stern glare.

"Dru! Could yoo just..." He started, taking a moment to reduce the anger in his voice. "Be quiet for a moment."

"Oh...uh...sure theeng, brother!" Dru exclaimed. Frustratingly, his assertion of being quiet was louder than ever. "Do yoo need any help weeth anytheeng?"

"No, no, everytheeng's done." Gru muttered, rubbing his temple. He was finding Dru's time of questioning quite enraging, since he'd decided to ask just before they were about to leave. If he'd asked a little earlier, there were _a lot_ of things he could've helped with. But, again, there wasn't any need to get angry over something so small. "Once Lucy's done preppeeng de gurls, we should be ready."

He moved over at a slow pace and slumped heavily into the driver's seat. He leaned over, placed his keys in the ignition, and turned them, making the speedometer and many other components light up.

There were a multitude of different colored LED's, and honestly, it looked extremely fancy. In fact, the entire interior of the camper van was pretty fancy. Even the small toilet was kind of nice. It was definitely worth the price tag, however, it would probably be a good idea to avoid mentioning the money involved.

He did spend a lot of it at the end of the day...

After a few more minutes, Lucy came trudging into the van with a stressed and fatigued expression. She was softly massaging her temple with her fingers, proving that something had occurred that was giving her a headache.

"Yoo okay, sweetie?" Gru asked, looking up at his wife with a worried expression. "Yoo're lookeeng kinda tense."

"Ugh...it's Edith." Lucy muttered aggressively, as she practically fell down into the passenger seat. "I love her and all but... _god_ , she's a pain when she's got energy."

"What's she been doeeng?"

"She would _not_ get dressed." Lucy stated, using her arms to express her frustration. "She just kept running, and running, and running, and running. I had to give up in the end."

"Well...ees she dressed?"

"Half and half..."

"What does dat mean?"

"You'll see when she gets here." Lucy replied, as she leaned down and grabbed the thermos from her bag, where she poured herself a small cup of coffee.

After a few more minutes of sitting around and waiting, Jack and the three girls emerged into the van, all of whom held smiles of pure joy.

Gru turned around to face them, where his sight was instantly caught by Edith's disgruntled appearance. She was wearing her pink sweater over her onesie, which she only had one arm through, and only wore one boot on her feet, with the other foot left bare.

Obviously, she was still wearing the pink hat, which looked in peak condition.

Instead of saying or doing anything, Gru scoffed and turned back to face the steering wheel. Again, he just had to keep himself calm. They were all going to be in the van for a few hours anyway, so she didn't necessarily need to be properly dressed...

"So, where are we going first?" Agnes asked joyfully, as she leaped on to the couch and gave both her parents elated looks.

"Oh, well, I have many different ideas," Gru started, as he reached down into his bag and unloaded a dozen notepads, each one full to the brim with activities, information, phone numbers...basically anything you need for any activity ever. "So, let's just peeck and choose."

"Woah." Dru spoke, eyeing up the notepads in surprise. "Dat's...a lot of notepads."

"Gru, honey, don't you think that's a _bit_ over-the-top?" Lucy questioned, receiving a baffled look from her husband in response.

"Over-de-top?" Gru exclaimed, smirking. "Dere ees no such theeng as over-de-top on _my_ road treep. Anytheeng yoo wanna do, I've got all de stuff we need to do eet, right here!"

"Great! How about we start with a trip to space, then?" Jack requested sarcastically. "I've always wanted to visit the moon."

"Okay, well, _dat's_ over-de-top." Gru responded, rolling his eyes with a sigh. "Anyone got a _real_ suggestion?"

"Ooo! Can we start with the beach?" Agnes shrieked, looking up at Gru with those hopeful eyes of hers. Upon hearing her response, Gru looked down at the notepads and scanned his eyes across them quickly. After a second, he found the one he wanted, and after a moment of turning through the pages, he came to his desired set of notes.

Upon the small A5 page, he'd written the location of a hidden beach called Diamond Stone Cove, that was situated behind a moderately steep cliff. He'd chosen it specifically, since it was located in the middle of nowhere, and they had a very high chance of having the beach all to themselves.

"Good idea, Agnes." Gru said, receiving a wide-smile from the young girl in response. "Let's get goeeng."

Just as he turned around and grabbed both hands on the steering wheel, the sounds of bumping and slamming behind him caught his attention. He turned around and inspected the van in confusion, and to his annoyance, he saw Edith hyperactively jumping on the couch.

He turned to Lucy sheepishly, as if to ask for help, but she'd already put her headphones in and was looking out of the passenger-side window peacefully, ignoring the goings-on inside the vehicle. With a deep and defeated huff, Gru turned back to the steering wheel and pressed down on the accelerator, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street.

As he did so, his hand was gripped unnaturally tight to the wheel, something he was only doing subconsciously...

* * *

Vector could feel the weight of the 9mm, 18-round, glock in his pocket. There wasn't going to be any messing around this time. No piranha guns, no conversations, no stupid useless weaponry. He was going to break into the house, shoot and kill Gru, and then kidnap those daughters of his.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do with the girls just yet. He would either kill them, which seemed a little too cruel for his tastes, considering their age, or sell them to another family.

He could keep them, but he didn't necessarily fancy being a father. There was just too much responsibility. He was far from an expert in looking after children, and chances are, if he kept them, they would just starve to death.

That would be a problem solved, though.

As he quietly leaped over the fence and into Gru's back garden, he couldn't help but feel like such an invincible bad-ass. Before, when he was wielding those impractical marine-life guns, most people would just laugh in his face when he threatened them.

Now though, he had a feeling that Gru wouldn't be laughing when his handgun is pressed firmly against his skull. Nor would he be laughing when his brains are exploded across the floor, either.

God, he couldn't wait to teach him a lesson. All those months that he'd spent on the moon was complete and utter hell. Most of his memories were a complete blur, since the lack of gravity and oxygen seemed to take a toll on his brain, but somehow, he'd survived.

One thing he could remember though, was the day when his father had finally got the funds to build a rocket and save him. He also remembered the stern beration he received because of the financial issues the bank was now facing due to the price of his rescue. However, the following weeks after that were, again, just a blur.

He'd fallen into some sort of mental problem, that he was almost completely sure of. He wasn't sure what it was, or what it was making him do, but all he knew, was that the therapy sessions and medical treatment cured him and brought him back to his prior mental state.

Well, apart from the want to be a villain.

He couldn't deny it, villainy was the most repetitive and boring occupation in the world. It's just a cycle of proving yourself to other villains with deadly schemes, and then being beaten by another villain who came up with a better deadly scheme than you. He couldn't take a life of that for much longer.

Although, there was a certain aspect of villainy that _was_ enjoyable.

Murder.

And, back to that subject, Vector was now situated right outside the backyard door, listening into the house. There was no light coming from the back window, and he could hear no sounds coming from the other side. That wasn't too surprising though, considering it was around 4:30 in the morning.

Since Gru was going to die anyway, Vector wasn't too fussed about making a lot of noise, so instead of finding a more stealthy way to gain entrance to the house, he just grabbed a large rock and threw it through the window.

Carefully avoiding the large spikes of glass that were sticking up, Vector used his lean figure to slither his way into the house, where he found himself inside a large corridor. All the lights in every room were shut off, which again, wasn't a surprise.

He unleashed the handgun from his pocket and cradled it evilly in his grasp. He was itching to get upstairs, startle Gru from his sleep, and then, as he begged him for forgiveness, put one right between his eyes. The very thought was making him feel a little giddy inside.

Not wanting to waste another second, he started creeping his way through the hall, searching for the way to the upper floor.

Eventually, after a few minutes of checking each room to ensure that the bald idiot wasn't downstairs, he found the spiraled staircase. With a devilish grin, Vector happily leaped up each step, the anticipation building as he got closer and closer to meeting his target.

As he got upstairs, he was met with a door that was covered in drawings, pictures of boy bands, dinosaur posters, and a large banner that read 'Beware of Children'. Obviously, this must be the room of those little brats.

He would deal with them after their father was dead, since he wanted to see their distraught reactions once they'd found out.

He continued slowly down the upstairs hallway, walking past the bathroom and study, neither of which caught his attention. That is, until he came to another door that caught his eye. This one was covered in rock-band posters, pictures of sports cars, a child-like drawing of someone with long hair, and another large banner that read 'Beware of Coolness'.

He wasn't sure who it belonged to, but in all honesty, he didn't really care. Other occupants can be dealt with later, Gru must come first.

Finally, after a few more seconds of walking, he reached the door to the master bedroom. Preparing the handgun, Vector gripped the handle and took in a deep breath.

This was it.

It was finally time for him to get his revenge. He had been waiting for this moment for over a year, and now, it had arrived. The man who put him on the moon, the man who ruined his amazing plan, the man who turned him into a disappointment in his father's eyes, was about to get his comeuppance.

Why waste another second thinking about it, when he could just do it?

Vector quickly turned the handle and instantly pointed the handgun at the large bed, his finger ready and trembling on the trigger.

"Put your hands up, Gr-"

However, to his complete shock, the bed was empty. He spun both his gaze and the gun around the room at speed, trying to identify whether or not he was hiding somewhere else within the room. But, alas, he was nowhere to be seen.

Growling under his breath, Vector quickly turned and hurried down the hallway again, this time aiming for the girl's bedroom. He thundered his way in, and again, all the bomb beds were void of human presence.

In slight disbelief, Vector dashed over to each bomb and threw the covers up, trying to ensure that the young girls were indeed absent from their beds. And, confirming it once for all, they were nowhere to be seen.

Holding his head in his hands and punching the mattress aggressively, Vector snarled with ire and disappointment. Where could they have disappeared to? He probably shouldn't have made all that noise when he broke in, because maybe, Gru had grabbed his daughters and fled the house before he could get to them.

But then, fortunately for him, Vector picked up on the sound of a nearby engine. He lifted his head up again and looked out of the window, where he spied a camper van on the street. He moved over to the glass and investigated it with his gaze, and after a moment, he identified his target at the steering wheel.

Gru was escaping.

A second later, the camper van's engine roared loudly and the former villain took off down the street at speed, Vector watching him closely the entire time. He cackled evilly under his breath as he did so, grinning as he watched the vehicle disappear around the corner.

"Oh, you can run, Gru..." He muttered aloud to himself. "But you can't hide."

* * *

After three hours of driving, the Gru family were finally nearing their destination. Diamond Stone Cove! The air of excitement within the van was vivid to the touch, what with each person inside donning their own bright smile of anticipation.

"I can see de _SEAAAA_!" Dru screamed, as the view of the ocean was now visible out of the window. Everyone peeked their head upwards to look at it, all apart for Edith, who was still jumping uncontrollably around the van.

None of them knew how drinking half a cup of coffee could give her this much energy, but they did know one thing...

...never let her drink it again.

"Thank god..." Gru muttered, his eyes only half-open. "I thought dis drive was never gonna end."

However, at that moment, he was reminded that the drive was still yet to reach an end, as Edith jumped up to stand on the table with a frustrating pound. She happily leaped up and down on it, uncontrollably giggling as she did so.

The noise was beyond irritating.

"Edith...could you get off the table, please." Lucy requested softly, her voice sounding especially fatigued.

"Why!?" Edith blurted, still jumping up and down and giggling.

"Because it's unhygienic." Lucy replied.

"Why!?"

"Because...we have to put food on that table..."

"Why!?"

"Because...because...just please get down!" Lucy pleaded, still trying to keep her voice as calm as she possibly could.

"Why!?"

Lucy was now done with the conversation, and instead of proceeding with it, she just turned back around with a tired scoff. Things were getting stressful, but Lucy was used to dealing with stress, and she could always find ways to calm herself back down.

On the other hand, Gru was far from great at dealing with stress, and the sound of Edith jumping around the van for three hours was driving him crazy. He was doing everything in his power to contain his anger, and in order to get to the beach before he snapped, he was putting his foot down harder and harder on the accelerator as time went by.

Margo had been dealing with Edith, energetic or not, for the past six years of her life, so she found it fairly easy to cope with the noise. Even with her younger sister making so much racquet and occasionally bumping into her, she still managed to read eight chapters of her new book.

Agnes was endlessly laughing the entire journey at Edith's behavior, which only seemed to make her older sister more energetic.

Jack was finding the annoyed expression on Gru's face quite entertaining, so he didn't necessarily mind the amount of noise his little sister was making, even if it was starting to bug him a little after the third hour.

Dru would occasionally join his niece in jumping around, before getting tired, sitting back down, and then loudly pointing at things outside the window. Having Dru in the van was literally like having another kid, except he was probably more annoying than most children around the world.

Finally, the family of seven arrived at the beach's parking lot near the edge of the cliff. As predicted, there were no other cars parked around, and everything was dead quiet.

Gru and Lucy couldn't help but gasp at the beauty that surrounded them. Not only did the sea stretch right over the horizon, but the parking lot was surrounded by huge fields full of flowers and small trees. Gru wasn't expecting it to look this beautiful.

As he came to a stop in the parking lot, Lucy stood up from her seat, took the keys out of the ignition, grabbed a few bags full of supplies, unlocked the door, allowed her family to jump out, locked it back up and then put the keys in her handbag.

After getting out and taking a moment to stretch his muscles, Gru walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down over the beach. He smiled to himself as he admired the beauty of the rocks and the waves. He also had his theory entirely confirmed as he saw not a single other person in sight.

"Come on den!" He proclaimed excitedly, turning around to his whole family. "Let's get down dere!"

Dru, Jack, and Edith cheered in elation before sprinting down the steps to get to the beach. Lucy and Margo chuckled happily as they too followed on behind.

Agnes, on the other hand, ran up to the first step, but halted as soon as she could get a better view over the cliff. Even though the steps had actually been built _inside_ the cliff, and even though there was solid wall bordering over the edge to prevent you from falling, the drop was still _very_ far...

Gru noticed how his youngest daughter's expression changed from pure excitement to the exact opposite in an instant, and strolled up to stand beside her.

"What's wrong sweetie?" He inquired softly, as he knelt down to get to her level.

"I-it's..p-pretty...f-far...d-down." She mumbled, all the while shivering in fear.

Gru chuckled a little bit at her reaction, as it reminded him of himself at her age. He was dead afraid of heights as well, even if the chance of you falling was slim to none. Gently picking up the small girl into his arms, Gru gave his youngest daughter the widest of reassuring smiles, in order to try and revert that fearful expression on her face.

"Don't worry, kiddo." He spoke softly. "I won't let yoo fall."

Smiling back, Agnes cuddled in closer to her father and buried her head in Gru's chest. That way, she would only be able to see complete darkness, which was a much better alternative than the view over the horrifyingly scary edge.

Gru started slowly down the steps with Agnes in his arms, and as he started stepping down, he could feel the young girl's body tremble. Seeing her this afraid was genuinely upsetting him, since the sight of any of his daughter's looking unhappy was truly horrible in his eyes.

After stepping off the last step and onto the beach's sand, Agnes almost instantly switched from scared to excited again, as she opened her eyes, jumped out of her father's arms, and ran off to join her siblings, who were already playing in the sand.

Gru watched on with a warm smile. It was times like these, as he looked around at his whole family having fun, where he felt like his happiness could never be extinguished. The morning sun shining across the horizon was also burying his mind further in a blanket of comfort.

He'd missed this feeling. When he was stuck at work, plowing through criminal report after criminal report, the only feeling he ever felt was that of boredom and fatigue. Coming home always made him feel better, but it just couldn't compare to spending time with his family on one of the quietest and alluring beaches he'd ever seen.

Breaking himself out of his thoughts, Gru wandered over to his wife and twin brother, who had set down a red mat on the sand to sit on. He promptly sat down beside them and laid back, simply admiring the view for a moment.

"I told yoo dis beach ees nice, didn't I."

"It's beautiful!" Lucy cheered, lightly picking up her spouse's hand. "Just like a certain someone I know..."

The couple shared a passionate kiss, that was until Dru looked over his shoulder and interrupted them.

"Ewww." He groaned disgustedly, turning away. If he wasn't so tall, you genuinely wouldn't argue the claim that he was, for all intents and purposes, a child. "Yoo two should get a room."

Gru was about to chuckle in response, but before he could, Dru's exclamation brought back a memory.

"Oh, dat reminds me!" He exclaimed, fishing out another one of his information notepads. "I gotta call up a motel and book a room for us."

"Pfft... _boring_!" Lucy yelled, using her smile to mock him. Gru simply responded with a slightly puzzled expression. "You can sit here and do all that stuff, I'm gonna have some fun!"

As soon as her words left her mouth, Lucy got up and ran over to Jack and the girls, where she joined them in running around on the sand, frolicking freely. It didn't take too long for Dru to get jealous and soon follow on behind her.

Gru's previous smile quickly faded into an irked frown, as he proceeded to take out his phone, dial the number he had written on the notepad, and hold it up to his ear. After a few seconds of ringing, an automated voice answered and gave Gru some very frustrating news.

"Hello, and thank you for calling Sandy Waves Motel." The robotic voice greeted. "We apologize but our receptionist works from 9am to 5pm and you have called outside of that time range."

Gru looked down at his digital watch, where he was met by '8:11AM', clarifying that piece of information. Before he could angrily scowl, the voice continued.

"We currently have _one room remaining_. If you would like to book this room, please consider visiting our website, and booking it there. Thank you."

Gru's eyes widened at the sound of those words.

Hanging up the phone, Gru quickly stood up from his spot on the mat and darted towards the steps. If there was only one room left, then he had to quickly get to the laptop in the van and book it there before someone else beat him to it. He sprinted up the staircase, muttering curse words under his breath, before finally reaching the van with tired gasps for air.

He pulled the handle of the van's door, and upon realizing that it wouldn't budge, felt his mind fill up with rage. The door was locked, and if he could remember correctly, Lucy had taken the keys out of the ignition and put them in her bag...

...which was currently left on the mat on the beach.

"Ughhh, yoo've gotta be pulleeng on my leg..." Gru groaned, burying his face in his hands. Realizing that he was wasting time that somebody could be using to book the room, he took in a deep breath and bulleted back down the steps, his target being the white handbag on the mat.

Gru was both completely shattered and completely angry when he finally reached that target. The sounds of the rest of his family laughing with glee wasn't helping either.

Desperately attempting to ignore them, Gru kneeled down and started frantically fishing through Lucy's bag, in search of the van's keys. Upon finally finding them, the director quickly turned around and ran as fast as he could up the steps again, but this time, he could only manage a weak, fatigued stroll.

Once he'd made it back to the van and unlocked the door, he stammered into it and practically collapsed onto the sofa. He took a second to unwind his mind and collect some oxygen, before grabbing the laptop off the table and opening it up.

He quickly navigated to the internet browser and searched up 'Sandy Waves Motel' into the address bar, where he was met with a listing for the website of the motel in question. He quickly clicked the link, and upon spying the message that immediately appeared in front of him, had to hold back the urge to throw the laptop across the room.

' _There are currently no vacancies left. We apologize for any inconveniences we may have caused._ '

Looking around the van in thought, Gru racked his mind senselessly for a solution. Was there another motel nearby? From the research he'd conducted prior, the only other was one located several hours away, and he wasn't necessarily in the mood for another long drive today.

It seemed he had to give in and accept defeat, as the only way out was to fall back on Plan B.

He stood up from the seat with a heavy sigh and moved over to the many different bags he'd left carelessly on the floor. He grabbed his black sleeping bag, that had the letter 'G' engraved on it, and laid it down across the floor.

They were just going to have to sleep in the van.

He could only hope that everyone else had remembered to bring their sleeping bag, otherwise, they were going to have to sleep without cover. With yet another sigh, Gru trudged his way out of the van and sulked his way back down the steps to the beach.

The main part of this whole ' _Plan B_ ' was the argument that was sure to unfold about who got to sleep on the couches. There were only four of them, and each one only had enough room for only one person to lie down on, so a war was almost certain to break out over it.

When he got back down to the beach, he saw that everyone was now paddling and splashing in the sea. There was an endless amount of laughing ringing around the beach, that coupled with the sound of feet splashing in the water.

Tired of being the odd one out, Gru kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pants before racing over and joining everyone in the water, where he immediately started splashing his wife, who spluttered and giggled before retaliating with her own splash.

Everything was going fine, and Gru was really beginning to enjoy himself, up until Edith unexpectedly leaped onto his shoulders and sent him crashing face-first into the water.

Everyone laughed at his expense, all except for Margo, who helped him back up.

"You okay, dad?" She asked, this time nonchalantly, considering that this was now the second time that Edith had caused him to fall that day.

Gru decided against responding. His clothes were completely soaked to the bone, which was making the air much colder than it was before, and his expression was looking sincerely worse for wear. He tried to spin and yell at Edith, but just like before, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha...where deed she go?" He asked, shifting his gaze all around the beach.

"I'm right here!" Edith called out loudly, the energy in her veins seeming absolutely invincible. The whole family turned in a multitude of directions to try and find where she was, but still, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are yoo!?" Gru called back. There wasn't any response, only the distant sound of distinctive giggling. "Stop hideeng Edith, otherwise dere weel be severe consequen-"

However, before he could finish, the girl in question appeared from seemingly nowhere and jumped back onto Gru's shoulders in an attempt to knock him down again. This time, however, he steadied himself and caught her in his arms, dangling her upside down as she uncontrollably squirmed and giggled.

"Can yoo _please_ just...calm down!" Gru yelled, as she continued to giggle and sway back and for in his arms. "Right, eef yoo do not calm down _right_ dis second, I am driveeng us all back home!"

That was a lie, but judging on Agnes's petrified gasp, it must've been a pretty convincing one.

Instead of taking it as a threat as Gru hoped she would, Edith took those words as a challenge and started squirming harder in an attempt to break free. Finally, she escaped his grasp and sprinted away from him at a pace that would give professional runners a run for their money.

Gru really wanted to chase after her, but considering that Edith was obviously full up with energy, and considering how tired and wet he was, he probably wouldn't be able to catch up with her. Huffing in defeat, Gru slinked back onto the beach and over to the mat with a sluggish stride.

Once he arrived, the fatigue took over his muscles, and he practically collapsed to the ground. He stared up at the morning sky and rested his head comfortably against the mat's fabric. He just wanted to give his mind a rest for a few minutes...

* * *

But, the next thing Gru could remember, was his eyes fluttering open to the shine of the noon sun. For a second, he wasn't entirely sure where he was and what had happened, but as his basic senses regained their functioning, he slowly remembered what was going on.

He proceeded to roll over and inspect his surroundings, where he noticed Lucy sitting beside him, quietly reading a book. Once he started to stir, the redhead turned to him quickly and handed him a small warm smile.

"Hey, you're finally awake." She greeted softly. "Nice sleep?"

"Uhh...I theenk so." Gru replied, not entirely sure of the answer. He hadn't even realized that he'd fallen asleep until she mentioned it. "What time ees eet?"

Lucy put down the book and rolled up her sleeves, where she analyzed the digital watch on her wrist.

"Twelve thirty."

"Twelve thirty!?" Gru exclaimed. "How was...how deed I...why deedn't yoo wake me up!?"

"Because you looked so cute..." Lucy responded, grinning. "I just don't have the heart."

Gru rolled his eyes playfully and grinned back, before sitting up straight and looking around the beach. Dru, Margo, and Agnes were digging a huge hole in the sand, while Jack and Edith were energetically sprinting after each other, the teenager completely incapable of keeping up with his explosive little sister.

"Ees she steel hyperactive?" Gru asked, already deducing the answer by giving her a quick glance.

"I don't know how...but yeah." Lucy replied, giving a little sigh. She turned around and watched as her family had fun in their separate activities, taking a guess at what must've been in their minds by their faces and the time of day. "I think everyone's getting hungry."

"Well...I know _I_ am!" Gru proclaimed, reaching into the supply bags and fishing out a load of sandwiches and juice boxes. "I prepared all dese dis morning."

"Good thinking." Lucy chuckled, winking at her husband before turning around and calling out to the rest of her family. "Lunch!"

At the sound of that specific word, everyone's head perked up happily in unison, and all five of them ran over to the mat at pace.

After around ten minutes of eating and talking, Edith finished her food before everyone else and almost instantly got back to sprinting around the beach.

"Edith!" Gru called out. "Could yoo wait a few meenutes before yoo start being... _hyperactive_ again. Yoo're gonna make yourself sick."

Edith ignored his request and continued to sprint in circles, which in all honesty, didn't surprise Gru in the slightest. If you didn't know any better, you would think the ten-year-old was completely deaf.

"Leave her, Gru, she'll be fine." Jack said, looking up from his sandwich and shrugging. "She's like me. She's got a stomach of steel."

"So why did you throw up at Super Silly Fun Land then?" Margo asked, in quite a smug tone, as if she were proud of herself for remembering that moment.

Jack frowned and narrowed his eyes at her.

"I thought we agreed to not talk about that."

"Wanna bet?" Gru offered, holding out his hand to the teenager for a handshake.

"What?"

"Wanna bet dat she won't throw up? Eef she does, den _yoo_ have to look after her."

Jack returned him a fearful look, obviously not as confident in trusting Edith's stomach as he was before. But, not wanting to be shown up in front of everyone, he nodded in agreement and went to shake his hand.

However, at the exact moment that Jack was going to agree, Edith stopped bouncing up and down for the first time in eight hours and hurled all over the beach. Everyone immediately turned their heads away and groaned in disgust, instantly losing their appetite and placing their half-eaten sandwiches back down.

Jack also instantly pulled his hand away and held it up, as if he were a soldier surrendering at gunpoint.

"I'm out!"

As a response, Gru growled and gave the teenager an angry frown, who was quickly exchanging his worried glance between his father and sister.

Gru subconsciously balled his fists together in anger...

Edith kneeled down and held her stomach tightly, as the pits of her tummy started stinging in pain. At this point, any other girl her age probably would've whined or cried, but with Edith being who she was, all she did was look at the vomit on the beach and weakly mutter to herself.

"...cool."

* * *

Edith was laying down on one of the couches in the van, clinging to her abdomen as it continued to sting in pain. After throwing up, it seemed all of the coffee's energy finally left her body, and the repercussions of constantly jumping around were starting to affect her.

Gru was angrily rummaging through multiple bags in search of a fresh pink sweater and fresh burgundy skirt, practically lobbing everything in his way across the room. Once he'd found them, he turned around to throw the items of clothing down in front of her aggressively, but he just couldn't do it when he saw the expression on her face.

She was giving him both an anguished and shameful look, and as much as he wanted to yell at her for not listening when he warned her and for being such a pain in the butt so far, it did seem that puking was probably punishment enough.

Sitting down beside her and gently putting a hand on her arm, Gru spoke as soft as he possibly could.

"Why don't yoo get some rest, kiddo?" He said, giving her a small smile. "Yoo look like yoo need eet."

Instead of responding, Edith gave her father a faint happy smile and slowly proceeded to crawl over to him. She rested her head against his leg and cuddled up to him, and after a little while, she fell fast asleep.

Although he was happy that Edith was now quiet again, the fact that she'd fallen asleep against his leg had practically imprisoned him to the couch. If he was slow and gentle enough, he might be able to escape and get down to the beach with everyone else, but he didn't want to risk leaving her all alone.

What if something happened when he was gone? What if she got to Lucy's thermos, drank more coffee, and got energetic again? What if she woke up, did something reckless and hurt herself? Or what if someone found the van, broke into it and-

He didn't even want to think of such a possibility.

No, there wasn't a chance he was leaving her here on her own. Even if he was itching to get down to the beach and have some proper fun with his family for the first time today, it just wasn't worth the risk.

Spying the book that Margo had been reading on the table, Gru shrugged and leaned over to pick it up. Reading some rubbish teenage novel was probably better than sitting in complete silence...

* * *

Six hours later, Gru put the novel back down with a highly shocked look on his face. He was expecting a book that Margo was enjoying to detail vampire love or something else that was cheesy and stupid. But, to his surprise, the book that she'd been reading was a murder mystery novel, that quite frankly, gripped Gru's attention from the start through to the end and refused to let it go.

He wasn't sure where she got it from, since he'd never seen that paticular book in his library, but no matter where she'd found it, he was exceedingly impressed with his eldest daughter for getting so far into it. It possessed a particularly sophisticated writing style, that even Gru considered to be over-the-top at times, so the fact that she didn't struggle to read or get bored with it was certainly something.

She definitely was a unique little girl. Or, more crucially, she definitely was _Gru's_ unique little girl.

As he set the book down and got back to sitting in silence, Gru could feel Edith starting to stir and roll over on his lap, which caught his attention immediately. He looked down at her just in time for her to look back up at him, and the two exchanged a warm smile as a greeting, one being a lot weaker and fainter than the other.

"Hey, sleepyhead." Gru spoke. "Feeleeng any better?"

Instead of responding to the question with words, Edith gave a small and very quick nod before changing the subject to something she found much more interesting.

"When's dinner?"

Gru couldn't help but chuckle a little. It seemed she was feeling _much_ better.

"When de rest get here." He replied. He reached down into the nearby supply bags and unloaded several microwavable burger containers, which he presented to the blonde promptly. "How do _dese_ look?"

"Awesome!" Edith cheered happily, as her eyes lit up as bright as the sun. At that point, the van's door opened up and the rest of the family entered the vehicle, all of whom seemed a mix of tired and joyful.

The sun had now set and it was gradually starting to get dark, so having fun on the beach was proving to be much more difficult than it was when it was light. That was a pretty big indicator that it was time to stop and get back to the van.

"We're back!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I missed you, daddy." Agnes said quietly, as she trudged over to her father with a solemn expression on her face.

"Aww, I meessed yoo too, sweetie." Gru replied, kneeling down to give her a little hug. It was true, he had missed everyone when he was stuck in the van. It sucked that he didn't get to have some proper fun with his family on the beach today, but it didn't really matter, since this was only the first day and there were sure to be many more chances for fun while they were on this road trip. "Anyway, I got sometheeng here dat should cheer yoo up."

Gru grabbed all of the microwavable burgers and moved over to the mini-kitchen, where he started preparing them one-by-one in the van's little microwave. As he did so, Dru, Jack, Margo, and Agnes strolled over to the couch and plopped themselves down next to Edith, who still looked a little rough.

"Hey, pukey." Jack greeted playfully, giving her a wink. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah...I'm okay." Edith mumbled unconvincingly, slumping back further into the seat. It looked like she was still tired, even after sleeping all day. Although, eight hours of jumping around endlessly will certainly take the energy out of you. "What did you guys do while I was gone?"

"Built a sandcastle." Agnes informed.

"It was more than a sandcastle, Agnes." Margo corrected. "It was like a sand _fort_. We made all these huge walls, and a big moat, and a few little villages, and..."

Margo stopped herself after she noticed the frown on her little sister's face, who was clearly jealous she wasn't there to help build all those cool sand buildings.

"Eet sucks yoo weren't dere." Dru said, trying to cheer her up a little.

"Yeah, no-one was there to stomp all over it and destroy everything." Jack joked, making everyone giggle a little. At that moment, the microwave dinged to signal the first burger's completion, and all five of them turned and watched Gru like a hawk, waiting impatiently for him to finish preparing all of the burgers.

* * *

After all of them had finished eating around the table, an activity Gru thoroughly enjoyed, since he got to spend it with his whole family, everyone got themselves ready for bed and slinked into their sleeping bags. All except for Gru and Lucy, who were simply sitting in the front seats, conversing.

The battle for who got to sleep on the couches wasn't as explosive as Gru initially thought. It was mostly between Jack and Dru, since the two really weren't bothered by letting the girls sleep on them. Eventually, Jack gave in and slept on the floor, mostly because he was already tired enough and arguing with someone who always had tonnes of energy was going to be a fruitless effort.

Lucy took a moment to glance back and grab a look at her daughters, who were fast asleep and snoring quietly.

"I love this, y'know." She stated quietly, gathering Gru's attention and making him look back as well. "I mean, how did I even manage without all of you?"

"Tell me about eet." Gru replied, smirking. "My old life of villainy has notheeng on dis."

The two sat there in silence for a few seconds, simply watching everyone else sleep happily, up until Lucy turned to her husband and gave him a moderately puzzled look.

"So, if villainy has nothing on this, then what was all that about yesterday?"

"What?" Gru replied, returning the puzzled look.

"Y'know, all that ' _I can't take this anymore_ ' stuff." Lucy elaborated, still whispering in order to avoid waking anyone. She proceeded to turn away from him with a slight tinge of sadness in her eyes, one that immediately alarmed Gru. "You're not... _bored_ of us, are you?"

"No, no, of course, not." Gru replied quickly, having to stop himself from exclaiming defensively. "I...I could never get bored of yoo. I love yoo guys, I just...I needed to get away from de AVL, dat's all."

"Are you sure?"

"One-hundred-percent." Gru stated, grabbing his wife's hand gently and cupping it in his. "Why would I go on a road treep weeth yoo eef I was bored weeth yoo? Like yoo said, I don't know how I'd manage weethout yoo."

Lucy dropped her head and smiled.

"Good." She said quietly, lightly grabbing her husband's hand in return. "Cuz...you've really had me worried."

Gru couldn't hold back the huge smile that spread across his face. He was so grateful to have a wife like Lucy. Someone who genuinely cared about him and how he was feeling. Sometimes, he felt like he didn't deserve her.

"Anyway, we should really be getting to sleep." Lucy said, standing up and grabbing her sleeping bag. "We've got another big day tomorrow."

Gru was completely unsure as to which activity the family would pursue tomorrow, but no matter what they decide upon, Gru just wished that he could actually spend all of it with his whole family this time.

Hopefully, nothing else will get in his way...

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Will return ASAP :)_


	4. The Hiking Trip

_Don't know how many times I'm going to have to apologize for taking so long. It's the same old excuse, blah blah blah lots of stuff going on blah blah blah._

 _Hope the ridiculous wait is worth it :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Four -  
** _ **The Hiking Trip**_

The whole of the AVL prison was completely empty. Not a single sound could be heard throughout the entire place, apart from Gru's very light and fearful footsteps, of course. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here, or what aided the decision to come here, but one thing was certain, he _really_ wished he hadn't.

This place was beyond creepy when empty.

Thankfully, all of the lights inside the large, eerie place were on, otherwise, Gru's heart wouldn't be able to handle it. Darkness and silence is a mix for some serious, panic-attack rendering fear.

He trudged very carefully through the main hall, where the prison's reception desk and security cameras were located, trying to make as little sound as possible. All of the hundreds of TV screens that surrounded him displayed empty prison cells, which did serve to calm Gru's nerves slightly.

As long as he could see into the cells, then the fear of someone breaking free and getting to him was non-existent, since there was clearly no-one around.

Or, so he'd thought...

As he spun his gaze across the hundreds of TV screens, quickly analyzing each one, a particular one struck out to him. Upon it, the prison cell it was displaying was shrouded in a dark and blinding cloud, that was seemingly forming from nothing. From the small parts of the cell that he could see, it did still appear to be empty.

That was until a figure with dark red eyes appeared right in front of the camera, and as a faint yet extremely devilish smile formed on its face, the feed transitioned to total static...

Gru felt both his heart and stomach complete a full 360. The fright was so sudden and impacting, that his footing gave out and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. For a few seconds, he simply laid there, not wanting to stand up out of fear of coming face-to-face with that _thing_.

Although, at that point, he realized that laying completely still on the floor was a more vulnerable position, so he shook himself out of the anxiety and jumped back on his feet. He looked up at the security screen again, and as he predicted, it was still displaying complete static. Whatever that thing was must've deactivated the camera.

Not wanting to stay here for a moment longer, Gru spun around and made his way to the reception's exit door. He pushed himself through it and started sprinting down the long hallway behind it, trying his hardest not to look into the cells on both his left and right.

After a minute of fearful running, Gru made it to the prison's final door, which lead back into the main sector of the AVL headquarters. He grasped the handle and turned, but much to his dismay, the door wouldn't budge.

Someone, or something, had locked him in.

Panicking for his safety, Gru kicked the door with all of his strength and attempted to smash it off its hinges, but no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn't break. It had been built to withstand anything in order to stop the prisoners from escaping, and Gru knew this, but the distress was beginning to severely affect his judgment.

Unsure of what else to do, Gru turned and spun his gaze around the hallway, trying to locate another escape route. But, as he forgot all about what he saw on the security cameras in the reception, he turned and looked inside the cell to his left, and a spur of pure dread went right through his heart.

That _thing_ from the security camera was staring right at him. A misty cloud was floating around its feet and its entire body, apart from its face, was translucent. It was still smiling evilly, and now that Gru could see it up front and personal, he could see the blood that was dripping from its teeth.

"Hello again, Felonious." The thing said, its voice deep and dark. As it spoke, it slowly moved up closer to the cell's bars, just to frighten Gru that little bit more. Considering that it didn't seem to have any feet, it simply floated towards him. "It's been a long time."

"What de…what de _hell_ are yoo?" Gru replied, as he subconsciously walked backward.

"What? You don't remember me?" It questioned, seeming quite offended. "Why…I was your best friend. All those times we spent together. All those things we did. You seriously don't remember?"

Gru was too afraid and confused to respond with words, so after a second or two of silence, he shook his head.

"That's ridiculous!" It exclaimed, as an aggressive frown formed on its face. "That family really has fried your brain, haven't they?"

"How'd yoo know about my family?" Gru asked immediately, becoming more defensive when their safety was put in jeopardy.

"How could I NOT know about them!?" It yelled. "They were the ones who ruined everything. They were the ones who tore us apart. And now, Felonious, I want you back for myself. It's time we got rid of them."

"What?" Gru muttered angrily, walking forward again, pushing back that prior fear. "What do yoo mean 'get rid of dem'! Dat's never gonna happen! I won't let yoo hurt dem!"

The thing smiled evilly.

"Oh, you can stop _me_ from hurting them, Felonious…" It said, in a quiet yet absolutely terrifying tone. "But you can't stop yourself…"

Gru widened his eyes and gave the demonic creature a shocked look, but before he could question him on what that even meant, the cloud below him started to fade, and with it, so did the thing itself. As it gave Gru one last devilish smile, the world around him blurred, and within a moment, everything turned black.

* * *

In a bit of a sweat, Gru woke up to the feeling of someone lightly nudging his arm. Attempting to ignore it and get some more sleep, Gru kept himself still and quickly closed his eyes again before anyone noticed that he'd woken up. But, after a few more seconds of light nudging in his side, a fierce kick struck Gru's abdomen, and he just couldn't resist the urge to spin and unleash a fiery glare.

"There ya go. I told you that'd work, Agnes." Edith marveled with a mixed smile of both pride and malice.

"Edith!" Gru snapped angrily. "Don't kick me!"

"But you weren't waking up!" Edith argued, shrugging as if she didn't realize what she did wrong.

"Ugh…" Gru huffed, grasping the bridge of his nose. "What do yoo want!?"

"To wake up." Agnes mumbled quietly, peering up at Gru with a look that extinguished her father's rage almost instantly. "You were moaning in your sleep, daddy."

"I was?" Gru replied, as the memory of that nightmare came flooding back like a levee breaking apart. "Oh. I was just...haveeng a really nice dream, sweetie, dat's all."

Agnes smiled and gave her father a cuddle, one of which Gru didn't even realize he really, really, _really_ needed.

That nightmare was _extremely_ frightening.

"So, what are we doin' today." Edith questioned, as she tiredly dragged herself over to the minivan's table, where her uncle, mother, brother, eldest sister, and bowl of cereal were located.

"Yeah! What _are_ we doeeng!?" Dru repeated, however, at a much higher-decibel level than her niece. The on-vacation director sighed, stood up from his sleeping bag, and moved over to the coffee-pot in the mini-kitchen. The headache the nightmare had left-behind made it difficult for him to think of an activity, so before he could provide his family with an answer, he really needed coffee.

After pouring himself a mug and moving over to the table, Gru slumped down beside his twin-brother, who looked like he was about to erupt with anticipation, and started with the response.

"Well, I've got a pretty cool idea." He started, pausing to take a sip of coffee before elaborating further. "I thought we could go for a hike."

While Lucy and Margo's reactions were one of content, the rest seemed displeased with that idea, evident by the four scoffs that were exclaimed in unison.

"A hike? Seriously?" Dru responded bitterly.

"Boring!" Edith declared, in the same tone as her uncle.

"But I don't _like_ walking!" Agnes exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, but just…hear me out." Gru continued, holding up his hands to try and interrupt any more dismayed reactions. "I've always wanted to go hikeeng, ever seence I was a keed, so dis ees de best opportunity I have to go on one. Plus, we might see some cool stuff, and when we get to de top de view weel be _awesome_!"

"Trust me, Gru, it ain't that awesome." Jack replied, his disappointed frown seeming to be an exact clone of the one on Dru, Edith and Agnes's face. Gru handed him a mixed look of frustration and exhaustion, right before Margo cut in with the first response that wasn't a dissatisfied retort.

"So, _where_ are we gonna go hiking?"

"Oh, well, I've done de research." Gru replied, as he reached over and picked out one of the multiple activity notepads. "De nearest one to here ees a place called Hunchback Mountain so-"

"NO! We can't go there!" Jack interrupted loudly, his voice filled to the brim with unexpected panic. The rest of the family turned and handed him an odd look, and after realizing how strange his reaction was, he quickly went silent and dropped his head to avoid eye-contact.

Of course, Hunchback Mountain was one of the first places him and his ex-girlfriend Violet went to. Just thinking back to that memory and the time on the summit sent a sharp spike of pain through his heart. Going back there would certainly be a terrible idea, since the whole experience would be a constant reminder of that stupid thing he said to her on her doorstep a month back.

"Why?" Gru interrogated, after a few seconds of eyeing him up.

"Uh…cuz…the name sounds…stupid." Jack answered unconvincingly, his voice now a mere husk. Frustrated, Gru rolled his eyes and responded sharply.

"I don't really _care_ what eet's called, Jack!" He stated. "De next hikeeng range ees over ten hours away, so eet's either dis or notheeng."

"I vote for notheeng." Dru called out, slumping back into his seat in a sulk. Gru let out a long huff as he ignored the comment and moved over to the driver's seat.

"We're goeeng and dat ees final." He insisted, his voice now laced with a fake sense of calmness.

Dru, Jack, Edith, and Agnes all groaned, before turning in unison and offering Lucy a pleading look. Upon noticing the four pair of eyes all staring at her, the redhead chuckled slightly and shrugged, before getting up from the couch and moving over to the passenger's seat.

Honestly, Lucy couldn't care less what activity they were doing, as long as it was with each other. Plus, she'd always adored challenging herself with different obstacles, ever since she'd began training with the AVL, and a mountain hike sounded like a pretty original challenge to conquer.

And for Margo, it was a very similar mindset, except she was more interested in the nature aspect. Studying plants and the like had always been a hobby of hers, ever since she was a very small kid, and a hike was certainly a good time to examine some flowers.

However, such enthusiasm wasn't shared with the rest of them.

"This is gonna suck." Edith proclaimed, turning to her older brother with a pout on her face.

* * *

Vector could feel his heart beating that little bit faster as the minutes progressed. The closer and closer that he got to the Bank of Evil, the more fear started speeding through his veins. He hated telling his father when he'd messed up, especially when it was about villainy, since he always gave him this look of disappointment that seemed to shoot right through him.

In this case, however, he felt like he had done his best. There wasn't really a possible way to catch-up with Gru when he was travelling in a mini-van, so in a way, the situation was beyond his control. Although, if he'd arrived only a few minutes earlier, then Gru wouldn't have escaped and his children would definitely be orphans again right now.

Keeping his head down, Vector strolled through the barren front office of the Bank of Evil and over to the reception desk. Behind it, the receptionist had passed out asleep, most likely out of boredom. Considering the poor reputation that villainy now held, the number of villains that came to offer up their services had taken a steep decline, meaning that her job now consisted of sitting in front of a computer doing absolutely nothing.

That honestly sounded more entertaining to Vector than _villainy_.

Attempting to gather her attention, Vector cleared his throat roughly, which he hoped would be enough to steal her out of sleep. However, that didn't seem to be the case, as a deep snore was all he got in response.

Getting both tired and very stressed, Vector growled and slammed his fist hard on the desk, which produced a sound that was more than nearly enough to startle her awake.

"Victor to see the boss…"

Perkins huffed and sat back in his chair, watching as his son fearfully staggered into the office. Vector gave him a quick glance, but upon seeing the expression on his father's face, immediately proceeded to turn away and look down at his feet.

"So…" Perkins started, his voice ladled deep with exasperation. "I'm guessing you didn't take down Gru."

For a few seconds, Vector elected against responding, since the familiar situation of admitting his failure was getting a little tedious. But, when the already uncomfortable air of frustration within the room got thicker, he decided to just get it over with.

"Good guess…" He muttered.

"Ugh…what a surprise." Perkins replied sarcastically, dropping his head a little. "What did he do? Flick you off?"

Vector ignored the comment and simply shrugged casually.

"Got away in a mini-van."

"Hmph…that's a new one, at least." Perkins huffed, shaking his head in clear disappointment. Vector still had his eyes glued to the floor, so he had no clue as to whether or not he was giving him that 'look' that he despised so much. "Well, it's lucky that I had anticipated this situation. Do you happen to know where he escaped to?"

Vector shook his head.

"Of course, you don't." Perkins remarked, dropping his head even lower in total dismay. Vector's mouth curled into a dark frown, as his father's judgmental words were digging deeper into his skin. "It looks like we're going to have to get you some help then. Maybe someone more… _capable_."

Vector sighed and rolled his eyes.

"And who's that?"

"I'll show you." Perkins replied, reaching into his desk drawers to reveal a character profile. He slid it across the desk for Vector to see, and the unsatisfied villain lifted his gaze somewhat to spy it. "He goes by the name 'Fullbyte'. He's amazing with IT and technology and computers and the like, and I'm sure he'll be able to track down Gru within an instant."

Vector quickly scanned the details on the page, evaluating whether this guy could be a worthy assistant. According to the profile, he was sixty-seven years old and had a large amount of experience in the field of villainy. He'd worked with the world's top villains in executing some of the most well-known and infamous heists, and had apparently won the 'villain of the year' award in 1986. As his father had just mentioned, the word 'computers' was listed under the skills section.

"Hmm…he seems alright." Vector mumbled, nodding contentedly. "Looks like a good assistant."

"Pfft… _assistant_?" Perkins replied, chuckling a little. "You really think this absolute hero of villainy is gonna be _your_ assistant? Y'know, you might be completely inept at being a villain Victor, but you're pretty decent at comedy."

Sick and tired of the insulting comments, Vector lifted his head and shot his enraged gaze at his father, ready to unload a response that would surely put him in his place. But once he caught sight of that disappointed look on Perkins's face, the anger was replaced by pure nerve, and yet again, he subdued and dropped his head.

"Now…" Perkins muttered, standing up from his seat. "Let's go get this guy on the team."

* * *

Gru pulled up and parked the mini-van in the derelict parking lot of Hunchback Mountain. There were only three other cars parked there, meaning that the whole place was going to be pretty quiet, just as Gru had anticipated.

As he came to a stop, Gru leaned forward and caught a view of the whole mountain. It was just the right size, not too small that it would be way too easy to hike, and not too big that the girls' small legs would give out before they made it to the top.

"Wow, it's beautiful." Lucy commented, as she looked around at all the trees and fields that surrounded the mountain.

"Mm-hmm, dat's why I chose eet." Gru replied, nodding in agreement. "De view from de top ees gonna be amazing."

Not wanting to waste any more time, Gru took the keys out of the ignition, stood up from the seat, and spun around to make his way to the vehicle's exit door. As he did so, five pairs of eyes stared right back at him, one of which was accompanied a smile, and the other four accompanied by a frown.

"Oh, come on guys, eet won't be _dat_ bad." Gru said, trying to cheer them up a little. Based on the lack of responses and the growing intensity of the frowns, it seemed his attempts were proving unsuccessful. "Okay, look, how about we make dis a leetle more fun?"

"How are yoo gonna do dat?" Dru inquired, seeming unconvinced.

"Well…how about a race?" Gru proposed, smirking as the idea came into his head. "We split eento two different teams, and de furst to make eet to de top decides where we eat later."

As he suggested the idea, the four frowns within the van slowly faded away, being replaced with an expression of both intrigue and excitement.

"How are we gonna decide the teams?" Margo asked.

"How about adults vs. keeds?" Dru announced, moving to stand beside Gru and Lucy, as the three looked down on the younger four questioningly.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Jack argued, crossing his arms and sulking, ironically just like a kid would. The three gave him a dubious look, and after realizing that the girls were way too young to go hiking up a mountain on their own, he sighed and gave in. "Fine…under 20s vs. adults then."

"Hmm…I still dunno about this." Lucy thought out loud, shaking her head. "I mean, this seems a little unfair."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Edith asked, crossing her arms and frowning.

"Eet means dat we weel easily keeck your butts." Gru teased, grinning playfully. "Yoo guys won't even make eet halfway before yoo need de toilet or sometheeng."

"Nuh-uh!" Agnes exclaimed, standing up on the couch. " _We're_ gonna win!"

"Yeah, you guys are like eighty." Edith joked, crossing her arms and smirking victoriously. "You'll probably break a hip or something."

As all seven of them laughed, Dru took the chance for a head-start and yelled back as he bulleted out of the van.

"Well, what are we waiteeng for!?"

Gru held back and watched with a smile as the rest of his family raced for the hiking trail, not wanting to fall behind. He both loved and kind of disliked the idea of this race. He loved it because everyone was now seeming to enjoy themselves, but he disliked it because he wouldn't be with his entire family the whole time.

But, that didn't really matter, since when they got to the top, they could hang around and spend time up there as a whole family…

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed, and Jack and the girls were making pretty good progress. They were fairly sure they were well ahead of Gru, Dru, and Lucy, and if things continued the way they were going, they would win by an absolute mile. God, how much Jack loved winning. It was always a chance to gloat and laugh at someone.

"My legs hurt…" Agnes moaned, as her previous excited walking had transitioned to a slow trudge. Jack, who was walking a little faster than the three girls, turned around to see how tired she was, and much to his dismay, it looked like she was about to fall over out of fatigue.

"Ugh…come on Agnes, it's not that much farther." He said, using his hands to signal for her to speed up. There wasn't a chance that was happening though, because her little legs were completely shattered, and the young girl was forced to come to a stop.

"Jack, it's _so_ much further." Margo chastised, motioning her hand to the ever-winding trail that didn't want to stop. "It's gonna be like another hour 'til we reach the top."

"But we're gonna lose if she doesn't move." Edith sulked, joining her brother in the argument. She went over and grabbed Agnes's hand, where she tried to pull her forward. The six-year-old refused to budge, and when Edith tried to pull her harder, she started whining and getting close to tears. "Agnes, come on! Stop being a baby!"

"Edith! Leave her alone!" Margo yelled, pulling her hand away from the small girl. "No matter how much you pull her, there's no way she's gonna make it to the top on foot."

"Then she's gonna make it on my shoulders." Jack proclaimed, moving in between the two to pick Agnes up. Once she was on his shoulders, the teenager immediately continued walking at pace, seeming in no mood to lose. "If we don't win, Gru's gonna make us eat at some stupid fancy restaurant, just to annoy us."

"Ooo, if we win, can we go to a pizza place!?" Agnes quizzed loudly, leaning her head down to look right into Jack's eyes. The eighteen-year-old couldn't help but grin a little. Not only out of anticipation for her excitement, but also because pizza sounded pretty good.

"Obviously." He replied, proceeded by a cheer as Agnes lifted her head up again to start thinking about what kind of pizza and toppings she wanted.

The four continued to make fantastic progress over the next fifteen minutes, and with Agnes now happy and gratified on Jack's shoulders, there surely wasn't a possible way they could lose. Edith's legs, just like Agnes's, were also beginning to really ache, but since giving up wasn't her kind of thing, the ten-year-old refused to mention it. Plus, there wasn't any room left on Jack's shoulders.

As they turned around a small bend in the hiking trail, Jack could feel Agnes's legs tense up fearfully on his shoulders, right before she started to quiver a little out of fright. Puzzled, the teen looked up just in time for her to yelp and leap down from his shoulders, immediately proceeding to run over to Margo at pace.

"Oh, so _now_ you can use your legs." Jack remarked, frowning a little.

"Margo! Margo!" The small girl yelled, wrapping her arms around the twelve-year-old's waist. Margo looked down at her youngest sister in confusion, as she seemed to be approaching the point of a complete meltdown.

"Woah, woah, what's the matter?"

"She's come back! She's gonna take us away! We're gonna get sent back!"

"What? What are you on about?"

Agnes lifted her head up a little and pointed just up the trail, and to the three girls' cataclysmic shock, Miss Hattie, the orphanage owner, and another large man, presumably her boyfriend, were slowly trudging up the mountain.

"Oh my god…" Margo mumbled, now becoming just a little frightened herself. Even though she knew Miss Hattie could no longer cause them any trouble, since they'd obviously been adopted and were no longer under her care, her presence was all it took to bring back some bad memories and a very unsettling feeling.

"What?" Jack asked, completely perplexed. He gave his surroundings a quick inspection, where he could identify nothing of concern, before turning back to the three girls with a bewildered expression on his face. "What's wrong?"

"That's Miss Hattie!" Edith exclaimed, pointing over to her and expecting Jack to understand that explanation without any kind of context.

"Who's Miss Hattie?"

"The owner of our old orphanage." Margo elaborated, looking visibly uncomfortable. "Uh…she wasn't very nice."

"Oh." Jack replied, looking over and spying the large woman. He stared at her for a few moments, simply analyzing her bulky appearance, before coming to a memory of something his little sister had told him the day he'd found her. He quickly spun back around and turned to Edith, the faint resemblance of a very dark and angered frown emerging on his face. "Wasn't she the one who told you weren't ever getting adopted?"

For a few seconds, Edith didn't answer, as if she were under some sort of trance and therefore couldn't think straight. Just like Margo, knowing that she was within earshot made her very uncomfortable. But, after snapping herself out of her thoughts, she turned to her brother and sent him a very dim nod. The moment she confirmed his theory, the anger on Jack's face spiked off the charts, and he balled his fists together out of complete rage.

Slowly, the teenager narrowed his eyes and started walking towards her.

"I think me and her need to have a little cha-"

"No, Jack! Don't!" Margo yelled, dashing over and grabbing his hand to stop him from moving. Once she did, Jack obliged and immediately came to a halt, but not without giving her an inquisitive look, however.

"Margo, I'm not gonna let her get away with saying tha-"

"No, Jack, I'm begging you, _please_ don't go over to her!" She pleaded, using a deadly-serious and insistent tone. Jack, noticing how frantic and erratic she was becoming, gave in and held up his hands to try and calm her down.

"Okay, okay...I won't."

"Look, could we just…hang back for a moment?" She asked, as the young bespectacled girl ceased eye-contact and looked over to her sisters.

Jack really wanted to argue, since he really wanted to win and that they would lose if they stopped for too long, but upon seeing just how uneasy all three girls were becoming, with even a few tears building up in Agnes's eyes, he elected against it and nodded.

He absolutely hated losing, but between that or furthering the complete and utter terror that was on his little sister's faces, he knew which one he would opt for.

* * *

Gru, Dru, and Lucy were trailing up the mountain as fast as they could, but considering that Jack and the girls were nowhere to be seen, the three were fairly sure they were being annihilated so far.

How were they losing this badly? Gru and Lucy were both AVL trained and experts when it comes to travelling long distances, and they were currently being beaten by a team with an average age of under 12-years-old. Yes, one of them may also have AVL training, and also five years of IVB training, but three of them were little girls so there was just no excuse.

"Could we…take a leetle break…for a moment?" Dru requested, pausing every few seconds to gasp for air. He, unsurprisingly, was not AVL trained and was not used to walking long distances, so the past thirty minutes of hiking was really taking a toll on him.

"No, Dru," Gru replied. "We're getteeng hammered enough as eet ees. We really can't afford to stop."

"But I'm tirrreeedddd." Dru moaned, huffing relentlessly. Sighing in response, Gru turned and sent him a sharp look, watching as Dru's face curled into a very stubborn sulk.

"Yoo are literally a child, y'know dat." He mumbled, with a tone that suggested that he was joking, even though he really wasn't. Dru decided against replying, instead opting to concentrate on not falling over out of fatigue.

Lucy, who was finding the hike very easy so far, was spending most of the time moving her gaze across the surrounding trees and plants. She'd never really been keen on studying flowers and forests and all that stuff, but she had to admit, this whole place was very pretty.

As she did so, her gaze landed on a nearby young couple, who were silently walking up the trail beside them. They both wore a dark and infuriated frown, and judging that even Lucy could feel the air of discomfort, they must've just had some sort of argument. Not taking heed to that detail, Lucy smiled and gathered their attention.

"Hey." She greeted, as they quickly turned towards her in unison. "Hiking too, huh?"

"Oh…uh…yeah." The girl replied, giving her a faint and obviously fake smile. "We're on vacation so…it sounded like a pretty good idea."

"Yeah, _sounded_ like a pretty good idea." The boy cut in, not hiding his anger in the slightest. "I can think of about a million other things that are more fun than this."

"Ugh…would you quit with the moaning." The girl stated aggressively, though she was trying her hardest not to yell too loudly. "You're acting like a child."

"Oh, here we go again with the whole child thing!" The boy bellowed back, not trying in any way to tone his voice down. Lucy was now starting to regret striking up the conversation. "I'm twenty-six, Sarah! You can't be a child when you're that old!"

"Would you stop shouting." The girl responded, clearly trying her hardest not to go insane with fury. "You're embarrassing me."

"Oh, _I'M_ embarrassing you!" The boy screeched, as the couple now came to a stop. "You've been embarrassing me this entire tr-"

However, before he could finish, a mugger jumped from behind a nearby tree and snatched the girl's handbag, quickly darting away at speed after doing so. He had obviously been waiting for the right time to strike, and them coming to a stop was a prime-time to do so.

"Hey!" The girl screamed, completely unable to grab it back from him before he got away. As the thief sprinted back down the hiking trail, Gru and Lucy turned and gave each other a quick glance, both of them knowing immediately what to do without the need of clarification.

They barreled after him, the couple locking their eyes on the mugger as he desperately tried to get away. He tried his hardest to beat them for pace, but considering that the two were very used to chases with criminals, they easily started catching up with him.

After another few seconds of frantic dashing, Gru got right behind him and wrapped both his arms around the handbag in the thief's grasp, forcing him to come to a stop. They engaged in a tug of war, with the two of them pulling the handbag with all of their strength. Gru eventually won and snatched the bag from his grasp, but now that the mugger had his hands free, he balled his fists and proceeded to hammer Gru's nose with a punch.

The AVL director fell to the ground and hit his head against a nearby trashcan, which knocked his head into a blinding daze. The mugger turned and watched as Lucy was very quickly making her way towards him, and realizing that the bag was nowhere near worth the risk, he spun and raced away at speed, hoping sincerely that they wouldn't try and chase after him.

More concerned with her husband than some stupid robber, Lucy shrugged him off and moved over to Gru's side, as he held his head and moaned in pain.

"You okay, Gru?" Lucy asked, kneeling beside him. In response, Gru sighed with exasperation and tried getting to his feet, but the spinning sensation in his head locked him to the floor and he was forced to keep himself still.

"I don't theenk so." He muttered, frustration thick in his voice. "Yoo'd theenk I'd be used to a punch to de nose by now."

Feeling the sensation of warm liquid on his lip, Gru wiped the bottom of his nose with his hand and looked down at it. To his annoyance, it was slightly covered in blood. Huffing with ire, he reached into his trouser pocket and took out his phone, where he used the front camera as a mirror. Judging by the amount of blood, and judging from the sting he could feel in his nostril, the mugger probably busted the cartilage, which is never not bad.

"Fantastic…" Gru muttered sarcastically. "Dis whole trip has just been… _fantastic_."

"Come on, let me help you up." Lucy offered, wrapping her arm around his side and carefully lifting him to his feet. As she did so, the couple ran over to them at pace and the girl took her bag back from his grasp, offering him a huge grateful smile in return.

"Oh my god, thank you so _so_ much! See Jarrad, that's a real man, right there. Unlike _you_!"

"What!? Are you being serious!?" The boy replied angrily. "So a mugger steals your bag and your first instinct is to yell at _me_!?"

"Yeah, cuz all you did was just stand there and watch! I mean, did you even care that some thug had stolen my bag!?"

"Of course, I did! Why wouldn't I!?"

"Don't lie to me, Jarrad! Just admit that you don't care about me!"

"I'm not lying, Sarah! Why don't you ever trust me!?"

As the two continued to yell at each other persistently, Lucy nudged Gru's side with her elbow and gathered his attention, before faintly nodding her head in their direction.

"We'll never be like them, right sweetie."

"Of course, not…" Gru replied, as he desperately tried to ignore the horrible mix of both pain and irritation in his head. "Never een a million years…"

* * *

Gru, Lucy, and Dru had officially accepted defeat at this point. Gru was now walking at a much slower pace compared to before the nose-punch, and Dru was complaining so much about being tired and needing a break, that the two were giving in and stopping every ten minutes just to appease him. They'd come to terms with losing, and honestly, seeing the bright expressions of the girls after they learn that they've won will probably make it all worth it.

As they got closer and closer to the top, the three were shocked to see Jack and the girls sat on the floor only one-hundred meters away from the end of the trail. Jack and Edith looked pretty irritated, while Agnes looked slightly traumatized as she was latched onto Margo's side in a hug.

"Guys? What's goeeng on?" Gru questioned, making all four of them lift their heads quickly and spy both their parents and uncle. "De feenish line ees right der-"

"Mommy! Daddy!" Agnes exclaimed, quickly leaping to her feet and sprinting over to her parents' feet, a few visible tears appearing in her eyes. "You're not giving us away again, are you!? Is that why she's here!?"

"What!?" Gru quizzed.

"What are you on about, sweetie?" Lucy asked, as they both worryingly kneeled to her level. Agnes was now in too upset of a state to talk, and in a panic, she latched her arms around both their necks, where she cried heavily. The two of them were beyond confused and upset by this, and they picked her up together to give her a hug.

"What happened?" Gru asked, giving Jack a mixed look of worry and annoyance, as if he'd already pinned the blame on him. Jack noticed this and narrowed his eyes with indignation, but before he could reply with an aggressive retort, Margo butted in.

"We saw Miss Hattie on the way up." She explained, giving her little sister a concerned look. "She must've spent her day off hiking. It…uh…kinda freaked us out a bit."

Gru sighed sadly and patted Agnes's back, as she continued to cuddle and sob into his chest. If he and Lucy had been there when the girls had seen Miss Hattie, then maybe, they could've calmed them down before they got this frightened.

Suddenly, Gru was really hating this race idea.

"Shh, shh, eet's alright." Gru soothed, pulling her away from him a little so the two of them could look into her eyes. "We would never give yoo away, Agnes. Never…uh…never again, anyway."

"It was just a wild coincidence, honey." Lucy added, wiping away a few tears from under her eyes. "We love you too much to ever get rid of you."

"Promise?" Agnes asked, sniffling.

"Pinky promise." Gru said, smirking and sticking out his pinky. Relief washing over, Agnes smiled and wrapped her pinky around her father's, before proceeding to hug back into his chest again. The two smiled and cuddled her back, right before Edith could stand up and change the subject to something a lot more light-hearted.

"So, who won?"

"I say we call it a draw." Lucy suggested, shrugging.

"We can't do that!" Jack exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Who gets to pick where we eat?"

"How about we just get peeza?" Gru announced. By the sounds of girly cheers that followed, that proposition seemed to go down well. The family turned back and started their way back down the mountain, much to the dismay of their legs. They all really needed to find a bench on the top and take a rest, but considering that they might see Miss Hattie again, and considering how badly this hiking trip had gone so far, the less time they spent here the better.

"What's with the bloody nose?" Jack inquired, giving Gru a troubled look.

"Some mugger tried stealeeng some woman's handbag." He replied, as if it was something of nothing. "He punched me before he escaped."

"I'm guessing you got it back though." Jack said, grinning.

"Good guess."

* * *

Vector and Mr. Perkins arrived at the lair of the elderly, but legendary, Fullbyte. His mansion was made of a mix of gold, diamond, and titanium, and aesthetically, it looked sublime. Perkins nodded impressively as he stared from the car window, while Vector simply glanced and turned away, completely uninterested.

"This place puts your lair to shame, Victor." Perkins remarked, not taking his gaze away from the mansion. "No stupid sharks, no bland colors, no game consoles. You could learn a few things from this guy, y'know."

"Mm-hmm." Vector mumbled, electing to tune out his father's comments and just get out of the vehicle.

The two strolled through the beautifully decorated front garden and towards the large double-door, which was made of ruby and emerald encrusted gold. Vector couldn't help but find the place to be a little overkill, since the number of reflective surfaces was enough to eventually turn you blind.

Upon reaching the front door, Perkins rang the doorbell and turned to cast another look around the place. Not only was Fullbyte incredibly smart, but he was also a man of class and vigor, three traits he wished his son donned.

A few seconds later, the double doors opened up, and a fairly short elderly man, who wore a gown embroidered with the letters 'F' and 'B', peeked his head through and investigated them.

"Can I…help you?" He questioned, seeming rather dubious.

"Why, Byte, it's been such a long time." Perkins greeted, extending his arm to offer a handshake. Fullbyte continued to give him a perplexed glare, and after realizing that old age must've started compromising his memory, Perkins continued with an elaboration. "It's me. Perkins."

"My god, Perkins, it's been more than just 'a long time'." Fullbyte replied, this time with a lot more cheer in his voice as he accepted the offer and shook his hand. "It's been decades, old chap. And this must be your son. God, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."

Vector elected to keep himself silent. This was already becoming quite an annoying experience. This introduction was reminding him a little of when he used to visit his grandfather when he was young.

"Well, come on in, come on in." Fullbyte spoke, waving them inside the mansion. "Don't stay out there in the cold."

"Fullbyte…um…I should mention that we aren't just here for a friendly catch-up." Perkins said, as he walked inside and quickly analyzed the shear number of impressive paintings and portraits that lined the walls. "We require your assistance."

"Perkins, come on now, I'm not senile just yet." Fullbyte replied, chuckling as he walked through the hallway, Vector and Perkins following on behind. "No-one ever goes places for a 'friendly catch-up' these days. It's always for personal gain, especially in the villainy profession. Whatever it is, I will be glad to help you out."

"Great." Perkins responded, nodding his head. "See, I've been having a little trouble with a certain somebody, and me and Victor were wondering if you could track him down."

"Pfft…that's it?" Fullbyte quizzed jokingly, chuckling as he did so. "That can certainly be done. Just give me his name and I'll have him found in no time."

"His name is Felonious Gru." Perkins answered, as Fullbyte came to a stop. He turned around and offered his old friend a slightly stunned expression, as Perkins let out a hushed sigh. "You might've…heard of him."

"Felonious Gru? Why, I haven't heard that name in years." He marveled, looking down to the floor. "Why on earth would he be causing you trouble? Isn't he a fellow villain like ourselves?"

"Not anymore he's not." Vector butted in, much to the frustration of his father, who seemed to be enjoying the conversation without his son involved. "He's gone all soft and started a family with these three little orphan brats. I wanna see him dead, to be completely honest with you."

"Oh. I see." Fullbyte said, rubbing his chin in contemplation. "I've never really understood the concept of 'going soft'. I mean, what's so special about settling down and having children and the like?"

"I…really don't know." Perkins replied, giving his son a quick glance, who seemed to take that comment like a knife to the heart.

"Well, if we take a small trip to the supercomputer, I should be able to find him." Fullbyte informed, as he made his way towards a small, darker room. Perkins didn't waste a second and followed on behind, while Vector stopped and held back for a moment.

Out of all the insults his father had used before, that last one hit him the hardest of any other. When he was a young child, he always looked up to his dad as the best person on earth, and in return, he was actually a pretty good father. But then, he started growing up, and after providing him with disappointing heist after disappointing heist, the real reason for him having a son revealed itself.

He didn't love him, he never did. He just wanted someone to follow on in his footsteps and take over as owner of the Bank of Evil. He just kept manipulating him, trying to make him trust him, before eventually keeling over and keeping his business intact with someone who would stay loyal.

That's all he cares about. Not him. Just his stupid and worthless business.

"Victor!" Perkins yelled, snapping the young villain out of his thoughts. "What are you doing just standing there!? Get in here!"

Vector obliged and raced over to the dark room, where inside, the sounds of whirring fans was almost deafening. They were clearly needed though, since the number of servers in the room was nearing quadruple-digits, and the amount of heat they must produce is probably hazardous.

"So, let's see if we can't find the old softy then, aye?" Fullbyte said, as he sat in front of the colossal monitor and began typing a series of codes and numbers. Eventually, after seemingly breaching some sort of firewall, he typed in Gru's name. "This will now search through the entire world's SIM database and pin-point the location that Gru's smart phone last contacted its network operator. From that, we will know where he's situated."

"Good, good." Perkins hummed, grinning and nodding devilishly. He watched as the program started scanning through millions of pieces of information at a lightning fast speed, and after a small three second wait, a series of co-ordinates appeared on-screen, obviously Gru's location.

"It seems he's at a hiking range called 'Hunchback Mountain'." Fullbyte detailed, as he sent the co-ordinates to a transparent, odd-looking device with a very large Bluetooth adapter. He turned and handed the device to Perkins, who spun it in his grasp. "This should now keep updating Gru's location every time his phone makes signal contact. That way, as long as his phone is switched on, you'll always know where he is."

"Amazing!" Perkins exclaimed happily, nodding excitingly. "You're a genius, Fullbyte!"

"Pfft…nonsense." Fullbyte replied, waving him off with a smile. "I just know what I'm doing, that's all. You two are welcome to stay for dinner. I'd love to actually have that friendly catch-up now that you've mentioned it."

"Well, _I'm_ certainly up for that," Perkins replied, as he handed the device to Vector and gave him a serious look. "But Victor has a few things to sort out, so I'm afraid he'll be on his way."

"Oh, that's unfortunate." Fullbyte spoke, giving him a disappointed look. "Well, it was great seeing you again, Victor."

"Yeah, yeah." Vector replied, as he snatched the device and trudged his way out of the room.

"Victor!" Perkins yelled, grabbing his attention just before he disappeared through the door. "Change of plans! Don't kill Gru. Just, kidnap him for me, would you? That would be very much appreciated."

"What!?" Vector exclaimed, seeming beyond irritated that killing Gru was off the table.

"No arguments." Perkins stated demandingly. "Now…shove off."

Vector sent his father one last extremely fierce look before leaving and making his way for his next destination…

…Hunchback Mountain.

* * *

 _No promises that the next chapter will be out sooner, since I really don't know anymore. I don't even know how I've managed to finish this one, to be 100% honest._

 _If you do decide to review, that would be very much appreciated, only if it's positive though. Nah, I'm just joking, but if you do give some criticism, could you stay nice about it. I can take criticism and have always supported it, but being aggressive about it isn't cool. Thanks :)_


	5. What If's

_I just want to start off this chapter by giving those who reviewed a really large thank you. All of the nice words you've given me has really been pushing me into writing, and even though it still took me so, SO, long, I really do appreciate it. It honestly means a lot._

 _Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint._

* * *

 **Chapter Five:  
** _ **What if's**_

Ignoring all of the speed limits and traffic lights, Vector raced down every single highway with his foot down _very_ hard on the accelerator, in order to get to Hunchback Mountain as quick as he possibly could. He needed to get there soon, as to avoid Gru and his daughters jumping in their mini-van and escaping again before he could reach them.

Finally, after an hour's drive, Vector sped into the parking lot of Hunchback Mountain and slammed carelessly into one of the parked cars, flipping it over and smashing the passenger door off its hinges. Not seeming to care about the damage he'd caused, the young villain leaped from the driver's seat and onto the dry, coarse hiking trail, spinning his gaze around his entire surroundings.

Just stupid trees and flowers. No signs of Gru, his daughters, or their mini-van.

Maybe that Fullbyte guy didn't actually know what he was doing. Maybe Gru isn't actually here. That elderly 'hero of villainy', as his father had put it, honestly looked so much older than his age suggested. Maybe that old age was having an effect on his skill.

Sure, it _sounded_ like he knew what he was talking about, but who knows, he could've just been chatting pure gibberish and hoping that would suffice. His father wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That guy knows as much about computers as a toddler does about quantum physics.

Vector let out a large sigh and massaged his fatigued forehead. Was this entire trip even worth it? If he couldn't kill Gru, then what's the point in seeing this mission through? That was his only desire from the beginning, to get revenge on the one who sent him to the moon. To get revenge on the one who fried his brain almost beyond repair.

To get revenge on the one who permanently changed his entire personality…

As he dwelled for a moment on that thought, two figures appeared in the corner of his eye, and he lifted his head immediately to spy who it was. To his dismay, it wasn't Gru or any of his daughters, rather, it was some stocky woman and her equally large boyfriend.

Sighing yet again, Vector shrugged and moseyed over to them, figuring that questioning them on Gru's location was worth a shot.

"Hey…uh…this is kind of a strange question," He started, wanting to get the conversation over with quickly, in order to avoid wasting precious searching time. "Have you seen a tall, bald guy around here?"

Rather than a response, Vector received a rather snobbish look from the two of them, a type of which that served to annoy the young villain further. They either didn't understand the question, or thought of themselves too highly to be spoken to by some scrawny little punk.

"He…uh…has a pretty long nose," Vector elaborated, attempting to ignore the stuck-up look on their faces. "Three daughters. One of 'em has glasses and one of 'em wears a pink hat, I think."

"Hmm…not around here," The woman replied, her voice not really that sophisticated, which made Vector question why she seemed so snobby. "But I did used to know a tall, big-nosed man who adopted three girls. I'm pretty sure one of _them_ wore glass-"

"I don't care who you _used_ to know," Vector interrupted fairly aggressively, already sick and tired of conversing. "I wanna know if you've seen 'em around _here_."

"No, we haven't, buddy," The man cut in, his accent suggesting that he was born in some rough, British estate. Again, no reason to act snobbish. "And if you keep talking to her like that then the two of us are gonna have a little problem! Understand?"

Vector promptly tensed up. Even though they didn't sound the same, Vector couldn't help but be reminded of his father by the man's large and intimidating physique. That simple comparison was all it took to send a bolt of fear down Vector's spine, serving to make him go dead silent. He simply dropped his head a little and nodded in response, quickly ceasing eye-contact.

"Good." The man replied. A frustrating victorious smile transitioned onto both his and his girlfriend's face, one of which Vector was yet again forced to ignore in order to preserve his safety, right before they turned around and continued on their way.

Tired of that defeated feeling that he was so well accompanied with, Vector let out a long huff of embarrassment and reached into his pocket to fish out the strange device that Fullbyte had given him. Much to his dismay, Gru's co-ordinates had now completely changed, seemingly referring to a totally different location. Growling, Vector had to resist the urge to lob the device into the forest.

As he tried to figure out what location these co-ordinates were indicating, the large couple strutted back over to him and snatched his attention, doing so with a fiery glare of pure rage.

"Is that _your_ car!?" The man yelled, pointing over to the parking lot, his whole body quivering with ire.

Vector gave the two of them an odd look as he followed the man's long finger, and upon realizing that the car that he'd crashed into earlier was the couple's vehicle, he felt his heart skip multiple beats.

He gave the large man a guilt-ridden, sheepish look, hoping sincerely that that would be enough to extinguish his rage. Obviously, that failed to work, but before Vector could offer up some sort of excuse that would clear his name, the man proceeded to punch him square in the nose, making everything go black...

* * *

After having what ended up being a pretty late lunch at a nearby pizzeria, since it took a long while for them to get back down the mountain, the entire family were now back in the mini-van and making their way towards the nearest town. This time, in order to avoid what happened at the beach, Gru jumped on the laptop and booked a room at a nearby hotel as early as he possibly could.

Thankfully, he managed to reserve one before they ran out of space, since it seemed this one was a little less busy. Therefore, much to their relief, they would be sleeping in actual beds in an actual room tonight, instead of sleeping in sleeping bags on the cold floor of the mini-van.

With their faces pressed firmly against the window's glass, Edith and Agnes watched the exterior of the outside neighborhood fly past their eyes at speed, as they drove through a large, yet fairly cozy, neighborhood. The area only consisted of posh town-houses and little corner-shops, which explained why this hotel wasn't too busy.

Eventually, Gru pulled into the parking lot of a large hotel, the size of which didn't suit its quiet surroundings in the slightest. It must've been around six stories tall, and it looked like it belonged more in a bustling tourist destination rather than some random little town in a fairly unknown location.

Gru got up from the driver's seat and opened the door to let his family out, before tiredly joining them and trudging towards the hotel's front entrance. That hike had really eaten up his energy, and out of all the activities in the world they could partake in right now, lying down on a bed sounded like the most enjoyable one.

The family walked through the doors of the hotel and up to the main reception desk, where a teenager with black hair and red highlights gave them a spiritless look. He was very clearly tired and frustrated, and considering his age, his parents must've forced him into getting a part-time job.

"De Gru family..." Gru muttered as he got to the desk, electing to skip pleasantries. The teenager gave him a blank look, one of which that better suited a lifeless corpse. He turned around and listlessly pressed a few buttons on a nearby computer keyboard, seemingly not even paying attention to the monitor he was controlling.

"Hmm...yeah." He replied, reaching into a drawer below to unveil a set of keys. "One of the rooms on floor six...I think..."

Gru took the keys and said nothing else. Yes, he could've argued and stated that 'one of the rooms on floor six' wasn't very helpful, but why bother when he probably wouldn't receive a clarifying answer. Instead, he lifted the keys into his line of sight, and spied the number '627' on the side.

That obviously must've been the room number.

"Thank you." Lucy expressed politely, getting a lifeless shrug as a response. The teenager didn't even make eye-contact with her, instead choosing to look up at a nearby wall clock, obviously checking how long he had left until quitting time.

Just wanting to see their room, the whole family turned around with their suitcases in tow and made their way towards the nearest elevator, right before Agnes spoke quietly into Edith's ear, in order to avoid the grumpy teen from hearing her.

"Why does he look so tired?"

"Teenagers are always tired." Edith answered, not bothering to speak quietly, since she didn't care if he could hear her or not.

"Yeah, and always annoyeeng." Gru added, rubbing his stressed forehead.

"Yeah, you're right." Jack replied sarcastically, grinning. "Thank god there are no teenagers in this family."

The rest of the family giggled a little, while Gru simply rolled his eyes jokingly and concentrated on the elevator. But, to his dismay, he caught sight of a small sign that read 'Out of Order', and he had to resist the urge to headbutt a nearby wall.

"Oh, no…" He mumbled angrily, looking up to the heavens in annoyance. " _Pleasssseeeee_ tell me dere's another elevator."

The rest of them spun their gazes around the whole reception in unison, searching for a second elevator that would appease Gru. However, luck wasn't on his side.

"I can't see one." Dru replied, turning back to him and shrugging. The huff of frustration that Gru emitted was unexpectedly loud and rough.

"The stairs it is then." Lucy said, pointing over to the staircase across the room.

"Yoo gotta be kiddeeng me." Gru exclaimed, rubbing his hand down his face. "We can't use de stairs, we have _suitcases_! D'you know how heavy dese theengs are!?"

"Oh, come on, it's only a few flights." Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "It's hardly the end of the world."

"Yeah, but eet might bede end of my legs." Gru responded, feeling the weight of fatigue in his leg muscles soar. Realizing that arguing was eating up precious resting time, Gru sighed and gave in, reluctantly approaching the first flight of stairs. "Ugh…come on…I just wanna get to de room."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Gru almost collapsed to the floor in fatigue, as he lifted his foot over the final step. As he stopped and took a momentary break, his family stood in front of him with their arms crossed, clearly bored and angered.

"I thought yoo had to be fit to get eento de AVL." Dru mocked, giving his twin brother a playful smirk. Even though Gru wanted to shoot back with a response and mock him for his earlier terrible hiking efforts, he just couldn't. All he could do was gasp and splutter, only just managing to motion his arms down the hallway, instructing them to head for the room.

After unlocking the door and stumbling into their hotel room, the family were surprised to see just how unexpectedly big it was. It had a large double bed, five single beds, a couch, a TV, three tables, and a mini-fridge. It could almost pass for a penthouse, rather than just a standard hotel room in some little quiet town.

"Woah!" Edith exclaimed, her mouth wide-open with shock as she walked into the room. "This room is awesome!"

"It's so big!" Agnes screeched, sprinting towards one of her desired single beds in order to claim it as her own. "I call this one!"

"Uhhh, Gru…how much did this cost?" Lucy questioned quietly, as she marveled at the unexpected size.

"I…uh…I can't remember." Gru replied, giving Lucy a sheepish expression. "I booked eet quickly so…I deedn't check."

Lucy gave him a quick stern look, since the prospect of this room costing hundreds of dollars was very much in the realm of possibility, but within a second, her bright and energetic side kicked back in as she ran over and leaped onto the double-bed in glee.

Gru watched her do so with a smile, before dragging his suitcase over and slumping onto the bed in a much less animated fashion. The duvet acted as a sponge, absorbing the strain from hours' worth of walking, running, and stair climbing. He had to resist the urge to fall stone cold asleep.

As the rest of the family unpacked and explored the room, Edith came to a stop in front of the glass double-door at the back, which she proceeded to point and yell at.

"Cool, we have a balcony!" She cheered, running over and opening the door to examine it further. She didn't actually know that pretty much all hotel rooms come with balconies, since this was one of the first times she'd ever been in one, but no-one decided to ruin her excitement.

Noticing her cheer and leave, Jack soon followed her out to examine it himself, while his little sister was observing the view on her tip-toes. Now that he was much higher and could see a lot more, Jack was starting to recognize the fairly large town that surrounded the hotel.

For the most part, it was made up of quaint little streets that were quiet and wholesome, the kind of which was perfect to raise a family on. However, a few streets stood out for being the exact opposite, consisting of graffitied walls and trashed alleyways. Eventually, Jack's eyes fell upon a certain row of houses, and he couldn't help but strut up to the balcony's edge to get a better view.

"Oh my god…" He muttered under his breath, barely believing his own eyes. Out of all the towns in the state they could've chose, _this_ one was the one they decided to stay in? It almost sounded farfetched. "I don't believe it…"

"What?" Edith asked, looking up at her older brother questioningly. For a few seconds, Jack didn't respond, instead electing to scan the street further. But eventually, after shaking his head out of slight shock, he finally replied.

"Oh…um…nothing."

"What is it!? Tell me!" Edith stated demandingly, spinning around to face him fully. She wasn't going to take an unconvincing 'nothing' as an answer.

Jack shared his uneasy look between his little sister and the aforementioned street, as if he was debating whether or not to tell her. But, seeing that their father was gone and no longer a threat to them, he could see no reason as to why he shouldn't.

"Uh…alright…" He started uneasily, pointing far over the balcony. "See that street over there?"

Edith turned back around and got on her tip-toes again, however, no matter how much she lifted herself up, she just wasn't tall enough to spy all the way over the edge. Letting out a small joking huff, Jack reached down and picked her up onto his shoulders, so she easily could see right over the whole town.

"Woah! This is awesome!" Edith exclaimed happily, turning her head in many directions to look around all the different streets. "We're so high up!"

"Yeah, so be careful!" Gru stated suddenly, as the rest of the family walked through the glass doors to join them on the balcony. "Don't go too near de edge, Jack! Especially weeth her on your shoulders!"

"Yeah, yeah, I won't." Jack replied, rolling his eyes. He didn't need to be told that. Even though he was confident he would never let her fall from his shoulders, he'd still ensured a safe distance between them and the edge _without_ his instruction. Plus, there was a metal bar between them and falling over the edge anyway, so he didn't even need to worry in the first place.

"Daddy!?" Agnes shouted, pulling on Gru's pantleg. "Could you lift me up as well? I wanna see if I can see our house!"

Gru couldn't help but chuckle a little. They were hours and hours away from the mansion now, so there wasn't a chance she could see it from here. But still, why stop her from trying?

"Sure theeng, pumpkeen." He replied, as he bent down to let her climb on his shoulders. As she did so, Gru could feel his back muscles sting a little, and even more when he stood back up again. But he elected to completely ignore it, just like he always did. What Agnes wanted was much more important than his stupid aches and pains.

"So, what street were you pointing at?" Edith asked, seeming eager to return to the original conversation, something Jack was secretly hoping she'd forgotten about. The fact that she seemed to remember everything he ever says or does was one trait he sincerely wished she didn't possess.

"Uhhh…that one." He muttered awkwardly. Edith immediately scanned the area her brother was pointing at, and once she'd pinpointed exactly which street he was referring to, she was met with a grimy looking neighborhood that was littered from top to bottom in garbage. It really stuck out when compared to the pristine streets that surrounded it.

"Looks dirty." She commented, finding that whole reveal to be pretty anticlimactic. "So, what's so special about it?"

"Umm…well…" Jack began slowly. He was really beginning to regret coming out onto the balcony. "That's…uh…that's where we used to live."

"What do you mean?" Edith questioned, seeming confused.

"I mean, like, when you were a baby. That's where the two of us used to live."

"Really?" Lucy chimed in. Jack simply nodded.

"How'd you know?" Margo asked.

"Cuz I used to live there." Jack replied as-matter-of-factly, finding the question to be pretty stupid. "I'll never forget how god-awful that place looked."

While the rest of them questioned Jack about life at the residence, Edith was inspecting every nook and cranny of the street. It honestly looked like one of the roughest places she'd ever seen. With all of the garbage, graffiti, and unexplained piles of rubble, it looked like a war zone. But, even though it was obviously a stain plaguing the rest of the pristine town, Edith couldn't help but think the place looked kinda cool.

Disgusting and hazardous…but still pretty cool.

"So, did you like living there?" Lucy asked, seeming genuinely interested. However, instead of receiving a response right away, Jack stared at her with an odd look, his mouth bending into a faint frown.

"Oh, it was fantastic." He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "It was full of garbage, my parents were crazy, and I'd spend all day pretending I was somewhere else. Definitely the best time of my life."

"Right, so…not too great then." Lucy replied, not knowing how else to respond to something like that.

"Can we go and see it?" Edith asked suddenly and abruptly, catching her brother completely off-guard.

As the question hit the air, Jack's faint frown immediately replaced itself with an almost petrified look, seeming incredibly uncomfortable with the very prospect of getting closer to it. However, before the teenager could respond, Gru cut in and answered for him.

"No, Edith!" He stated sternly. "We're not walkeeng around some horrible dump just so yoo can see your old house! Eet's very dangerous!"

"Oh, come on!" Edith sulked, slumping her shoulders. "It'll be fine. It's only a street!"

"De decision ees final, Edith! Dere's no way!" Gru replied. "Plus, my legs wouldn't be able to handle walkeeng all dat way. Not to mention dat Jack probably wouldn't want to go back dere."

Edith immediately looked right in her brother's eyes, almost pleading for him to join her side of the argument and tell Gru that it would be fine. However, Jack was torn.

Obviously, he didn't want to go back to his old house, since it was full of old memories that he'd rather forget forever. But, at the same time, going back there when everything is great might help him put the bad times behind him. There were two conflicting arguments in Jack's head, and he couldn't decide which one to side with.

However, when he spied the beseeching look on his little sister's face, his mind was made up for him.

"It's fine, Gru." He said. "If she wants to go see it, then…she can see it."

"What!?" Gru replied, that response catching him completely off guard. Jack had always been so sensitive to the events of the past, with just a simple nightmare about the things that had happened being enough to give him a complete meltdown. Going back to his childhood home would certainly be a lot worse than a nightmare. "Are…are yoo sure?"

"Yeah." Jack replied, shrugging. "Why not?"

" _Why not_!? Are yoo being serious!? Dat place ees really dangerous! What eef some… _creep_ comes and attacks us!?"

"Gru, come on, you deal with creeps every day. It's _literally_ your job! This is nowhere near as dangerous as, oh I don't know, fighting some crazy guy who has control of thousands of nukes." Jack argued, Gru's face still curled into a worried look. "Plus, if anyone even _looks_ at us weirdly, I'll punch their nose right off their faces."

He smiled evilly and clenched his fists, secretly hoping that someone would actually try something on them, just so he could punch them out of oblivion.

"Yeah! Me too!" Edith cheered, clenching her fists just like her brother was. Jack turned and gave her a large smile, excited for when she got older, so the two of them could go out beating people up together.

Gru, who still seemed unconvinced about the idea, turned to Lucy in the hopes that she would back him up. However, instead of arguing on his side like he hoped she would, she simply shrugged, not seeming to have a problem with the idea. Just like Jack, she also secretly hoped to get into a fight with someone, since she didn't get to punch anybody at the mugging earlier.

Frustrated, but also in no mood to continue arguing, Gru sighed deeply and dropped his head in defeat.

"Fine…I guess we have notheeng better to do." He muttered angrily, as the pain in his leg muscles decided to remind him of its existence. "Let's just hope my legs don't fall off…"

* * *

Gru felt like his legs were literally about to fall off. They were just entering the beaten-up residence where Jack and Edith's old house is situated, and Gru didn't know if he was ever going to make it back to the hotel with his legs intact. He couldn't remember how or when he'd suddenly became so unfit, but whether it was old age or stress that was the cause, he really just needed to stop and take a large break.

Thankfully, the opportunity to do so presented itself, as Agnes frantically pulled on Gru's pant leg in order to grasp his attention.

"I need the toilet!" She exclaimed, doing a little pee dance. Gru looked up and inspected his surroundings, looking for a place with a toilet, where he noticed a small corner shop across the street. Whether the place had a toilet or not, Gru knew this was the perfect chance to temporarily deter the crushing pain in his legs.

"Alright, alright." He responded, not sure if his leg muscles could handle Agnes's insistent pulls. Judging by the fact that they were starting to wobble, he was almost certain they couldn't. "I'm sure dere's one een here."

The whole family diverted course and headed for the corner shop, all except for Jack, who seemed so consumed by his surroundings, that he didn't even notice them walk away. He just kept on moving forward, his eyes transfixed by the house that he could see in the distance…

Slowly, he traversed the street's pavement and made his way towards it. He decided to focus his gaze solely on the front door, since the prospect of looking up at his old bedroom window sounded a little too much right now. I mean, why run before you can even walk?

Finally, after a minute of reluctant and regretful trudging, Jack was standing right in front of his old house's front lawn. The garden seemed a lot more taken care of now, with actual healthy shards of green grass sticking out instead of the quenched, dying brown shards that he was so accompanied with.

The car in the driveway was obviously completely different. He never actually thought about what had happened to his father's old vehicle, but now that he was standing right where it used to be, he couldn't help but wonder where it was right now. He wouldn't be surprised if it was stolen and scrapped for parts, knowing this neighborhood.

The old streetlight that used to stand just beside the driveway was no longer there. Questions about what could've happened to it spun around Jack's mind. Did someone just randomly decide to remove it? Did it get crashed into by some drunk's car? Whatever happened, Jack wasn't necessarily going to miss it. The light it used to shine on the driveway always scared him anyway…

And then, ignoring the siren-like warning blaring through his mind, Jack looked up at the bedroom window. The second he looked into the glass, the memories came back.

The sound of the rain…

The moon's timid light…

The pounding footsteps…

It seemed so vivid. Jack felt like it was all happening again. That fateful night seemed so clear in his mind that it didn't feel like just a simple memory anymore. Unable to handle it for a second longer, Jack felt the urge to scream at the top of his lungs, as an immense amount of unease clouded his min-

"Can I help you?"

Breaking him out of his trance-like state, Jack jumped out of his skin and immediately turned to face the elderly man that stood right in front of him, giving him a questioning look. For a few seconds, Jack didn't have a clue why this old guy was looking at him so strangely, but upon remembering that this house was no longer his, he realized what was happening.

"Why are you looking through my windows?" The man questioned, his tired voice hinting that he was sick of confrontations. Considering this rough neighborhood, that wasn't a surprise.

"Oh…uh…sorry." Jack replied, attempting to regain control of his frazzled mind. "It's just that…uh…I used to live here, so…"

"You did?" The elderly man questioned, looking him up and down for a moment, as if he was inspecting him very closely. After a few seconds of confused silence, the man's eyes widened in surprise, as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Wait…you must be Jack, right?"

Electing against responding for a second, Jack gave him an apprehensive look. The IVB had taught him to be cautious of any stranger that knew information about him, and those instincts that he was trained to follow were still active in his brain. Considering that the IVB had brainwashed and controlled him for five years, he was certain that those instincts would never go away.

"Yeah…" He replied carefully.

"Well, you must be very forgetful, young man." The man spoke, chuckling as he did so. He seemed like a very friendly elderly man, which made Jack wonder why he decided to set up home in one of the worst neighborhoods in the whole country. "You forgot to take all your belongings with you when you moved. They had your name plastered all over 'em!"

"Ohhhh, I did." Jack laughed, playing along. Of course, the man could never know that he actually didn't have the chance to collect his belongings, considering his next home after this one was a young offenders prison. But, obviously, he didn't necessarily need to know that. "Uh…you didn't happen to keep them, did you?"

"Well…I was originally going to throw them in the garbage," The man replied. "But I saw that they were full of old photo albums and…I just didn't have the heart to throw away someone's memories like that. They're all in the attic if you want me to go fetch them."

Jack could suddenly feel his heart-rate rise substantially. If looking at his bedroom window almost gave him a panic attack, then looking through his old box of possessions was sure to make him pass out. God, how much he wished this guy could've just thrown them away. He didn't realize that, instead of doing good, he was doing Jack a massive disservice by keeping them.

Realizing that he'd been silent for way longer than normal, Jack sighed under his breath and nodded his head quickly, not exactly sure as to why he was agreeing to this.

"Uh…yeah…that would be great."

The man gave a quick nod before turning and running off into his house, seeming more excited than Jack to retrieve the box from the attic. Once he'd disappeared, Jack let out the deepest and most uneasy sigh he'd done in a long while. He was really beginning to regret coming back here. It was like this whole street was cursed, and Jack was the only one who had been plagued by it.

"There you are!" A chirpy voice boomed beside him, startling the teen a little. He spun around and calmed down a little when he saw Edith standing beside him, but then immediately became more apprehensive when he remembered the situation and what was happening. "So…is this our house?"

"Uh…well, not anymore it isn't," Jack replied. "But…yeah, it used to be."

"Woah." Edith cooed, inspecting every inch of the house's ground in slight awe. The walls seemed bright and freshly painted, and the grass was alive with healthy colors. Compared to the filthy houses that surrounded it, it honestly looked really nice. "It's not that bad. It's better than some of the other houses around here."

"Yeah…it's not that bad _now_ ," Jack responded, still seeing the prior littered floors and fading lawns in his mind. "But it used to suck."

"Edith!" Gru exclaimed suddenly as the two siblings jumped in surprise, him and the rest of the family seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "What deed I say about runneeng off!?"

"I didn't run off." Edith replied, crossing her arms as if to invite an argument. "I _walked_ off."

Before Gru could accept the aforementioned invite, the elderly man came dashing back out of his house, a brown box with Jack's name written on it in his grasp. Considering how quick the man was running, the box couldn't have been that heavy, which wasn't surprising to Jack, judging by the fact that he had barely any possessions when he was a kid.

Most of the ones he did have he'd saved up for himself, or he'd stolen from classmates in his school.

"Here we are." The man spoke happily, putting the box down in front of Jack's feet. "Now, don't forget these if you move again!"

"Haha, yeah…I won't." Jack responded, ignoring the confused look Gru and Lucy were giving him. The elderly man gave him one last smile before quickly rushing back into his house, not sticking around for a second. It was obvious he was uncomfortable being outside on a street like this.

"What's that?" Margo asked, pointing at the box perplexingly. Before Jack had the chance to respond, Edith decided to figure out the answer herself, by moving forward and ripping the sellotaped top open. Inside, multiple random toys, thick and thin books, notepads, and a beaten-up instant camera were placed around disorderly.

"Woah, cool." Edith gawked, immediately proceeding to rummage through the items, even though she hadn't been given permission. That was a little annoying habit she had.

"What ees all dis?" Gru asked, peering at Jack while also investigating the boxed items himself.

"Just some…old stuff." Jack replied, not really knowing how else to put it, especially since his mind was still a million miles away. "I never got the chance to take them with me when I…y'know, left for my new _home_."

He spoke that last word with an extremely venomous tone, as if it angered him beyond belief.

"What are these?" Agnes asked, lifting up a few small tattered notepads, that had many, many messy scribblings on the front. By just looking at the handwriting, it was pretty clear that a young child was the writer behind them.

Forgetting exactly the things he'd wrote down when he was younger, Jack kneeled and took one off of the small girl, immediately scanning the covers.

"My old notepads." He explained briefly. "I used to write all my ideas down in these."

"What kind of ideas?" Agnes asked. Jack couldn't help but chuckle a little before responding.

"Song lyrics mostly. I always dreamt of being a world-famous singer when I was younger."

That sounded pretty crazy to him now, ever since he'd grown up and realized that he was missing the most crucial part about becoming a world-famous singer.

He couldn't sing.

"A singer?" Edith questioned mockingly, taking a momentary break from carelessly digging through the box. "But you can't sing."

"Yessss, thanks for the newsflash, Edith…" Jack responded, giving her an angry look. "But I don't need _you_ to figure that out."

Edith simply replied by sticking out her tongue, since she'd rather get back to exploring through the box than converse any further. Looking back down at the covers, Jack was a little intrigued to find out exactly what he'd written down. However, at the same time, he was a little reluctant to.

Considering how upset he used to be at that age, looking through his writings when he was ten-years-old may not be the best of ideas.

But still, unable to suppress his interest, Jack flipped the pad open and scanned the pages inside.

However, the elderly man's attic must've been pretty damp, since a lot of the ink on the pages had started to run, making most of his words incomprehensible. The words he could understand though were still pretty unintelligible, since without the context of the other writings before and after it, it didn't really make much sense.

"Cool! Ees dis a photo album!?" Dru yelled, kneeling down and revealing a large book with a thick brown cover, that had the words 'Photo Album' plastered on the front in bold letters.

"Not a bad guess." Gru replied sarcastically, unable to prevent the urge to roll his eyes.

Dru ignored the comment and happily started turning through the pages at an incredibly fast and energetic speed. Considering how fast he was flipping through, he surely couldn't see any of the photos inside, since they must've been a blur. But, somehow, he was seeming to take in each one.

"Woahhh!" Dru gaped, stopping and turning the photo album around. "Look, Edith! Eet's yoo when yoo were a baby!"

Unsurprisingly, considering how loud Dru had announced it, the page was littered with dozens of photos of a little baby. It must've been Edith, since one of the photos had her laying asleep beside a much-younger looking and less-muscular version of Jack.

It was like a never-ending wave of cuteness.

"Awwwww." Lucy cooed, cocking her head to the side and smiling. "You looked so cute."

"Yeah, what happened?" Gru joked, making the rest of his family laugh. All apart for Edith, who crossed her arms and frowned at him, clearly not finding it that funny. Jack, who was standing at a distance and looking incredibly uncomfortable, also didn't laugh, but that's only because he hadn't heard him. His mind was way too far away for him to hear a single thing around him.

"Jack, don't you wanna look at these?" Lucy asked. Even though her question wasn't loud, Jack was startled by her voice, since his mind was in a totally different world when she spoke.

"Oh…uh…nah, there's no need to." He mumbled, still at total unease, evident by the fact that he wasn't making eye-contact with her. "I know what she used to look like…"

With his head locked down, Jack slowly moved over to the box and inspected the rest of the contents, while the rest of his family searched curiously through the album. The more items he picked up and recognized, the more memories came back. Some of them were actually pretty good memories, while others were ones he wished he could forget.

That's when he uncovered a small set of trains at the bottom of the box.

Picking them up carefully in order to avoid damaging them, the teen held the small wooden carriages in his hand and studied them closely. These were the exact set of trains that Edith was playing with when he was being escorted to prison.

Or, in other words, the last time he'd seen her before they were separated for seven years…

Shoving them back into the box and quickly closing the lid, Jack picked up his possessions at speed and cleared his throat loudly, gathering his family's attention.

"Uh…we should probably start heading back." He mumbled quietly, rubbing the back of his neck in order to subdue the discomfort he was feeling. "It's…getting pretty late."

They all gave him an odd look in return, but since Gru could still hear the call of the hotel bed in his mind, he couldn't help but completely agree with him.

"Yeah, good idea." He replied, looking over at his daughters. "Come on, gurls, eet's way past dinner time. Yoo must be hungry."

The three girls smiled at the very mention of food, and followed on as the family started making their way back down the street. All apart for Jack, who hung back for a few seconds to take one last look at the house.

This would definitely be the last time he'd ever be here. That, he thought to himself, was a good thing. He was hoping that coming back here while everything was great would help him put those old memories behind him once and for all…

He was wrong.

* * *

Margo laid silently in her hotel bed, her eyes wide-open as she stared into the almost blinding darkness in front of her. She could hear the faint sounds of her little sister's soft snores to her left, and the much deeper and rougher versions coming from her father to her right. Even though she was as tired as they were when they returned to the room, Margo just couldn't fall asleep.

There was just too much on her mind. Frustratingly so, bumping into Miss Hattie at Hunchback Mountain a few hours ago had shaken her up a little. She thought she'd finally outgrown this phase of the littlest things triggering flashbacks, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

Since she'd seen her, it seemed almost everything she laid eyes upon was bringing back old memories. When they completed the large trek back down the mountain, it brought back memories of walking long distances to sell cookies. When they went to the pizza place to have lunch, it brought back memories of staring into restaurant windows, wishing she had parents to take her and her sisters inside to eat.

Even the darkness around her right now was bringing back memories of waking up in the middle of the night at the orphanage, either after her or one of her sisters had experienced a nightmare.

Those memories would make her feel upset, and then after they did, she'd get annoyed at herself for feeling upset since she now had a family and should be happy. She just couldn't wrap her head around exactly why they would make her so upset. It just didn't make sense.

Everything is good now, why can't she just forget the past and be happy!

As she got more and more angry at herself, the sound of movement from across the room caught her attention. Looking over, Margo could see the figure of her teenage brother tip-toeing over to one of the large tables in the room, where he'd placed his box of possessions. She watched as he quietly turned the small lamp on, before carefully rummaging his way through the box.

Jack knew he'd have to wait until everyone was asleep before he could start flicking through the photo album. He didn't want to start getting upset in front of his family, who were surely sick and tired of seeing him in that state. The amount of times he'd cried over events in the past in front of them must've been hitting double-digits, and it must be as annoying for them as it is embarrassing for him.

Pushing his old notepads and novels out of the way, he unveiled the photo album and didn't waste any time in opening it up. The first few pages were all random pictures of his street and the nearby forest, obviously just practice images for Jack to learn exactly how to use the camera.

But on the fourth page, the first picture of baby Edith was sitting there, instantly snatching his attention. He couldn't deny it, the picture warmed his heart. He could pretend that he's way too cool for babies and that he finds adorableness really stupid, but why bother when no-one was around to judge him about it?

He found it insanely adorable. In fact, he still found Edith adorable now. He'd probably still find her adorable when she's forty-years-old. Whenever he looked at his little sister, he still always saw that little newborn baby in the hospital, and it always triggered old happy feelings. It's why he loved being around her so much.

But, of course, his stupid decisions had to ruin everything, and that little newborn baby had been through so many bad times and scary moments, all because of that stupid choice he'd made in the living room seven years ago.

He had to resist the urge to throw the photo album across the room in ange-

"What are you doing?" Margo questioned quietly, once she'd tip-toed over to him and tapped her brother's shoulder. Startled, Jack jumped up from the seat in surprise and sent Margo a slightly terrified look, but once he'd realized that it was just his twelve-year-old sister, he took a breath and calmed down.

"Don't scare me like that."

"You're looking through the photo album?" Margo inquired, glancing at the large brown book momentarily.

"Yeah…" Jack replied quietly, as if that very confession was shameful. "I was just…remembering stuff. What are _you_ doing up anyway? It's past midnight."

"I couldn't sleep." Margo replied, sitting down on the foot of her bed, where she stared down at the floor. Jack gave her a suspicious look, now being a lot better in deducing when his sisters were upset, before sitting down beside her.

"Any reason why?" He asked.

"Uh…" Margo mumbled, unsure as to whether or not she actually wanted to talk about this. It was a very touchy subject, one of which she struggled to talk to even Gru or Lucy about. But, considering that Jack himself had also been an orphan when he was younger, maybe talking it out with him would get her more answers. "Well, I guess I'm still a little shook up from earlier."

"You mean when you saw that Miss H…Hat…Hit…Hil-?"

"Hattie." Margo corrected, unable to prevent herself from interrupting. "And yeah…"

An awkward silence followed. Jack didn't exactly know what to say to help her out in this regard. How would he ever be able to help Margo out with dealing with the past, if he couldn't even deal with it himself?

"So, why are you looking through the photo album?" Margo asked, sensing that Jack was having trouble responding. "Is it because your old house earlier had brought back sad memories, and looking at pictures of Edith when she was a baby makes you remember the happy ones?"

Surprised that she'd guessed right in such detail so quickly, Jack sent her a totally shocked look, proceeded with a sigh of frustration. Keeping secrets around Margo proved to be a difficult task, since the twelve-year-old could read people's expressions like a book.

"You're too smart, y'know that?" He muttered, shaking his head with a mix of admiration and annoyance. "But yeah, pretty much."

He stood up and moved back over to the photo album again, where he proceeded to flick on to the next page. The fifth one was full up with tons of pictures of baby Edith. Back then, his ten-year-old self was keen to document every minute he spent with her, since he'd rarely got to spend lots of time with her when his parents were around.

However, comparing that to the fact that he got to spend absolutely no time with her for seven whole years, it didn't seem so upsetting to him now.

After a few seconds of silence between the two, Margo got up from the bed and moved over to stand beside her brother, while he continued to flick through the pages, all of them littered with baby pictures.

"Wow, you took a lot of photos." She commented, marveling at the sheer number of images.

"Mm-hmm." Jack replied. "I spent a lot of time saving up for that camera, so I wanted to make sure that I got my money's worth."

His mind wandering off for a moment, Jack glanced into the box beside the photo album, and his eyes were instantly caught by the small set of trains again. Edith loved those things. He'd play with them for hours with her every day. Of course, playing with trains can only be fun for a limited amount of time before it gets boring, but since it made Edith smile so much, he would still always do it.

Mainly, because he hated seeing her upset…

Turning back to Margo, who was still curiously looking through the photos, Jack sighed under his breath before asking her a question.

"Margo? I need you to be honest with me…" He started, making the bespectacled young-girl turn to face him. "Did Edith get upset a lot at the orphanage?"

"Uh…sometimes, yeah." Margo answered. "She always used to pretend that she'd never get upset, but there were a lot of times when she would cry about things. Mostly after she'd had a nightmare, or when Miss Hattie had said something really mean."

"Oh, I knew it, I'm _such_ an idiot." Jack replied quickly, anger seeping deep into his voice. Margo gave him an odd look before responding, since it took her a while to clock exactly what he'd just said.

"What?"

"That orphanage lady made Edith feel so upset, and where was _I_?" He started, his cheeks glowing with a dark shade of red, displaying how angry he was feeling. "In a prison. All because I was so stupid and killed that social worker. What if I hadn't done that, Margo? What if I'd been smart for once and hadn't done something so ridiculously stupid? What if me and Edith hadn't got separated and I was actually there for her when she got upset? What if I could've been there to defend her from that Miss Hattie woman? Would she be happier now?"

"Jack, you're being stupid." Margo replied bluntly. "If we're talking about ' _what if's_ ', then _what if_ Gru hadn't decided to adopt us? _What if_ Gru hadn't saved us from Vector after he kidnapped us? _What if_ you hadn't stumbled upon Edith when you were working with the IVB? _We_ wouldn't have parents. _We_ wouldn't be talking right now. _You_ wouldn't be with Edith. Life is full of 'what if's', but not all of them are bad. You've just gotta accept what's happened and move on."

Margo didn't have a clue where that had just come from, but after she'd finished saying it, she realized that she was totally right. Life could be so much worse right now if things had gone differently. Those bad things that had happened were still pretty horrible and she would never be able to truly forget about them…

…but when comparing them to the things that _could've_ happened, like the evil purple minions managing to maul her and her sisters in the lab, like Balthazar Bratt managing to send the whole city of Hollywood into space, like the IVB managing to destroy the AVL and assassinate her parents, and like Venin managing to blow up the whole of the US with nukes…

…then I guess those memories aren't that bad, after all.

That previous look of shock returned to Jack's face, but instead of being followed by a frustrated sigh this time, he smirked warmly at his little sister and replied to her softly.

"You're too smart, y'know that?"

The two siblings shared a hug, something they both hadn't realized they really, really needed. It had been a pretty mixed day, some parts very enjoyable, and other parts not so much, but whatever happens, it shouldn't be something to stress over…

Things could be worse.

"Anyway, you need to get back to bed." Jack said, parting the hug after a few seconds. "You need your energy for the pool tomorrow."

Margo smiled and quietly tip-toed over to her bed, where she laid back down and practically passed out asleep. Jack turned the lamp off and went to do the same, but when he heard the sound of Edith's snores across the room, he diverted course and moved over to her bed instead.

Stone-cold asleep and completely peaceful, Edith didn't seem to be too shook up by bumping into Miss Hattie earlier. In fact, the second pizza was mentioned, she seemed to immediately get over it. Because of that, there wasn't any need for Jack to cheer her up with a kiss, since she'd been cheerful ever since then…

He kneeled down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"I love you, Edith." He whispered.

…but there wasn't any harm in making sure.

* * *

 _Again, just want to express my gratitude to anyone that is reading along and is actually enjoying the story. I say it almost every chapter, but I am extremely appreciative of the support._

 _Sorry that I seem to take so long with these chapters. If I'm being honest, writing hasn't been as much fun the past few months as it did last year. Don't really know why, it just hasn't. But I decided today to rewatch the first movie, and after I did, all I wanted to do was write. I ended up finishing half of this chapter in around three hours, so I think I know where the problem has been._

 _I hadn't actually watched any of the movies in a long while before I did today, and after I had, I was just full of inspiration. I'll rewatch the second one tomorrow, so hopefully, that'll mean that Chapter Six should be out soon._

 _But saying that, since I seem to be so inconsistent with updating this, I'll put a little section on my profile about my progress on the next chapter. That way, you'll know when the next one will be out if you're curious. Don't be afraid to DM me about it as well if I seem to be taking some time. I will 100% respond._

 _Right, enough of me rambling. I will return as soon as I possibly can, which hopefully, shouldn't be any longer than two weeks._


	6. The End Of His Tether

_Expect a little change in tone in this chapter. Let's just say, the fluff and filler chapters were getting boring to write._

 _Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter Six:  
** _ **The End Of His Tether**_

Walking through a small foyer, the Gru family approached a large set of glass double doors and their neighboring huge windows, both of which had signs strapped to them reading the word 'Pool'. The girls were giddy with glee as they approached them, the excitement of swimming in a hotel pool for the very first time being the reason why.

Even Jack was very clearly filled up with excitement, though he was trying very hard to disguise it behind a masculine attitude.

Walking through the doors, the sudden blaring noise of twenty other families shouting, screaming, and cheering struck them all unexpectedly. Of course, it didn't bother the girls in the slightest, since the sound of other people having fun was only further hammering in their own want to have some fun.

But for Gru, it was a different story.

Though he had only been standing there for three seconds, Gru was already developing a stern headache from the sound of around thirty screaming kids. If it was in his power, he wouldn't hesitate to make them sit down, stop screaming, and just be quiet for the rest of the day, since the high-pitched voices of children drove him more crazy than anything else in the world.

Well, apart from own children of course, since their voices were special and did the exact opposite.

"I'm _SO_ excited!" Agnes exclaimed as she bounced up and down with joy, unable to stop herself from thundering forward towards the pool. As soon as she did, the others soon followed, leaving Lucy to stand there with a more than satisfied expression on her face.

"I'm really glad we came on this trip, y'know." She said happily, watching as the rest of her family leaped into the pool and immediately started annoying a few of the people nearby. "It's just been so much fun…"

"Yeah…" Gru responded unconvincingly. "Eet's been…yeah…a lot of… _fun_."

"We should probably go find some sunbeds." Lucy suggested. She was lost so deep inside her own sense of happiness, that she didn't pick up on Gru's obvious sarcastic tone.

"Yes…uh…good…good idea."

He had to admit it at this point, he was struggling to enjoy himself, and right now, he didn't exactly know why. He was at a hotel pool, his daughters were playing happily, his wife seemed elated with everything. Usually, that recipe was more than enough to ensure his contentedness, but at the moment, he was far from that description.

He seemed pretty void of vigor. It felt like one more bad thing would push him over the edge of a metaphorical cliff, and god forbid did Gru want to know what was at the bottom of said cliff. It didn't help that he only got about an hour of sleep last night.

All he wanted, out of everything else in the world, was to just relax and have some fun with his family, but even though this was his chance to do that very thing, his mind was racing with thoughts of frustration, stress and just plain fatigue.

He slumped down on the empty sunbed that Lucy had chosen and looked around the whole pool. As the seconds passed, the voices of other people's children seemed to raise in volume, and with it, so did Gru's headache. Every moment when he felt like the pain in his head couldn't get any worse, it somehow proved him wrong and upped the intensity.

Putting his hands on his head, he pushed down on his skull, as if he was trying to stop his brain from exploding.

Looking sideways at her husband, Lucy finally noticed the disheveled expression on Gru's face and gave him a very odd look. Pushing down on your own head like that was certainly a little peculiar…

"Gru?" She spoke, startling him a little, even though she made sure to keep her voice quiet. "Are you…feeling okay?"

"Okay? Of course, I'm feeleeng okay! Why wouldn't I be feeleeng okay?" He replied, his mouth acting like a submachine gun, shooting words at a blurred speed. Lucy was now looking at him as if he was some sort of psychopath. "We're at de pool, de gurls are happy, de noise eesn't… _dat bad_. Everytheeng ees fine, everytheeng ees great, everytheeng ees brilliant, everytheeng ees-"

"Gru!" Lucy exclaimed, interrupting his mad ramblings. "I can tell there's something wrong. You can't fool me. Talk to me…"

"I _am_ talkeeng!"

"Yes, but so fast, I can barely understand you."

"But in theory, dat ees steel talkeeng."

Even Gru was noticing how stupid he was sounding now. Not only were his words coming out like high-speed trains, but his desperate attempts at hiding his stress and sounding happy were just making him look more suspicious than ever. Realizing that continuing this conversation was probably a bad idea, Gru defied the weariness in his leg muscles and sprinted towards the pool, calling behind him as he ran.

"Race ya!"

Lucy's look of concern didn't let up, but as he ran and cannonballed into the pool, unleashing a huge splash of water across a whole nearby family, she just couldn't help but jump in after him. Maybe he was just rambling because he was super excited to finally spend some proper time with his family…

She would later realize just how wrong she was…

* * *

Vector was speeding down the highway at an illegal speed. His eyes were switching between the road and the tracking device, constantly checking to see if the co-ordinates changed to a different location. Thankfully, the numbers had been idle for a few hours now, so it did seem like he had finally stopped somewhere to rest for the night.

Vector also managed to get some rest last night as well, however, not in the way he'd anticipated. That guy seemed to possess one hell of a punch, since after knocking him out with one clean swing, he'd remained unconscious on the dirt path of Hunchback Mountain all night. For whatever reason, not a single passerby decided to call an ambulance.

Although, not even his own father would call an ambulance in that situation, so why should he expect some random stranger to care enough to do so?

Letting out a small sorrowful sigh, Vector's stomach growled at him in irritation. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd eaten. It must have been around nineteen hours. He turned his head and spotted a sign for a diner at the next service stop, and after deducing that taking down Gru would be much more difficult when hungry, he turned off the highway.

Parking outside the diner, Vector exited his vehicle with a frown and sent dagger-like looks at anyone nearby, ensuring that he retained some sort of intimidating appearance. He walked inside, slumped down at the nearest empty table, and stuck his nose inside the menu, evaluating his possible choices.

At a nearby table, three young children were screaming and shouting at the top of their voices, clearly attempting to get the attention of their stressed-out parents. Vector couldn't help but wince. He had to question why anyone on earth would have kids. They were just annoying blockades in life that soaked up your money and annoyed you until you literally couldn't take anymore.

Thinking about it, his father probably held the same opinion…

"Hi!" A woman screeched happily, startling Vector out of his thoughts. "Welcome to Barry's diner! Can I take your order?"

"Oh…uh…yeah." The young villain replied glumly, looking back down at the menu. "I'll have a…bacon sandwich and a coffee."

"Okay-dokey." The lady responded, as she wrote the order down on her notepad. "Do you take sugar in your coffee?"

"Uh…yeah, just one." However, just as he spoke, a small pain at the back of his eye made itself abundantly apparent, and his choice suddenly seemed a lot less desirable. "Actually…make that four."

"Sure thing." The waiter replied, making the adjustment on the notepad before taking the menu from the table. "It shouldn't be any more than ten minutes."

Nodding in a barely noticeable manner, Vector crossed his arms and turned to stare out the window, watching a few couples chat as they returned to their cars. He didn't understand relationships. Once Gru was dead and he was free to ditch villainy forever, he was planning on spending the rest of his life alone in his lair, playing video games and eating junk food.

That sounded like a much more enjoyable life compared to wives, children, and the company of other humans.

At that point, a man and a young boy passed by his window, the two of them holding fishing rods and bags full of random pieces of equipment. They entered the diner laughing about something indeterminable, which if Vector could take a guess, was some stupid dad joke the father had made. He couldn't help but stare at them with an acidic gaze.

"Thanks for taking me out today, dad." The young boy said, as the two sat down on the table in front of Vector. "You were right, fishing is a lot of fun."

"See, I told you." The dad replied. "Once you get the hang of it, it can be a barrel of laughs."

"Yeah." The boy spoke while chuckling. "The best part was when you thought you caught a huge fish, but it was really just somebody's boot."

"Ugh, that was _not_ funny." He said sarcastically, while smiling and chuckling along with his son. "I was really happy for a moment…"

"Your face when the boot came out was brilliant!" The boy mocked through laughs. "You looked like you wanted to cry."

The two were now simultaneously laughing pretty loud, and at this point, Vector couldn't hold his frustrated scoff any longer. The sour expression on his face grew more bitter as the seconds passed. He honestly couldn't wait to get out of this joint, since he felt really out of place around these families and happy civilians.

"I love you, dad." The boy cooed happily, as his laughter died down.

"I love you too, son."

Suddenly, Vector's anger completely vanished. His sour gaze morphed into one of dejection, and his head subconsciously dropped. That hit him a lot harder than he would've ever expected. It felt like a sharp needle jabbing its way into his heart.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd heard those words. Had it been ten years? Twenty? Had he ever heard them? He had no recollection of ever hearing them, so possibly not.

If his father was to ever use them now, then they would be coupled with a sarcastic tone and a look of absolute disappointment, as another method to kick him while he was down. He had no clue as to whether or not his mother had ever used them, since she abandoned him and his dad when he was only three-years-old. He highly doubted she would use them if she was willing to leave him at that age…

Feeling the small sting of tears at the back of his eyes, Vector shook himself out of his thoughts and reignited his previous harsh frown. He looked down at the floor and gritted his teeth, growling words under his breath to ensure that no-one else could hear him.

"Get it together, Victor. Just focus on Gru…"

* * *

Gru was now finally starting to enjoy himself. For the past two hours, him and Lucy had been playing every swimming pool game imaginable with Agnes, including a holding your breath challenge, a swimming race, a unicorn game, and, what they were playing right now, a game of catch. The look of absolute joy on her face while they did all those activities was enough to calm the director's stress levels to a comfortable level. He was just hoping that nothing would counter that antidote.

Meanwhile, Margo had found a few friends her age and had been hanging out with them the entire time, Dru had been switching between splashing around like a child and racking up a pretty big tab at the food bar, and Jack and Edith had been getting on everyone's nerves by creating any kind of mischief they could. So far, it had been the perfect day, and no problems were visible on the horizon.

"Okay, I'm bored now…" Agnes said, as she threw the ball back to her father for the last time. "Let's play unicorns again!"

"Ugh…" Gru mumbled, a slight smile on his face as he looked sideways at his wife. "Unicorns are just _so_ much fun, aren't dey…"

"Obviously." Lucy replied, chuckling a little. Gru rolled his eyes and turned to Jack and Edith, frowning as the two were punching the water and giggling, splashing everyone that was in their vicinity and receiving a multitude of glares from other parents.

"Guys! Would yoo stop doeeng dat!" He exclaimed. "Yoo're getteeng on everyone's nerves!"

"Aww, but it's fun…" Edith sulked, continuing to punch the water while she spoke.

"Look, just…play weeth dis." He said with a sigh, throwing the ball over to them. "Dat should keep de two of yoo out of trouble."

"Alright then." Jack muttered, as his sister caught the ball and eyed it with a frown. He created a bit of distance between the two and smirked with a challenging smile. "First to drop the ball is the world's biggest loser."

Ignoring him, Edith smiled menacingly and threw the ball with all of her strength, leaving Jack to helplessly watch it as it flew over his head and landed near a couple's sunbed.

"Fetch!" She shouted, grinning proudly.

"I'm not a dog!" Jack shouted back, crossing his arms.

"You look like one."

" _Ha, ha, ha._ " He slurred, laughing sarcastically. Sticking his tongue out in a playful manner, Jack turned and ran off to grab the ball, going quick so that nobody could get there first and steal it.

A moment later, while Edith stood there in the water, punching the surface again to see how big of a splash she could generate, another young girl, that looked around the same age as the tomboy, wasn't watching where she was going and crashed into her, causing the ten-year-old to almost lose her footing. Of course, the water would take all the sting out of the fall, but nevertheless, the fact that some girl almost knocked her off her feet angered her somewhat.

"Hey, watch it!" Edith exclaimed, giving the girl a dark frown.

"You got in my way!" The girl shouted back, reciprocating the frown. "So, how about _you_ watch it!"

As she spoke that last sentence, the girl jabbed Edith with her finger venomously, catching her off guard. This only added to Edith's anger, evident by the fact that her frustrated expression upgraded into a purely irate one.

She thrusted forward and pushed the girl with all her strength, sending her crashing dangerously into the shallow water. She just about managed to avoid bumping painfully onto the hard pool floor, but the unexpectedness of Edith's push was all it took to frighten her away from the confrontation.

At this point, a muscular teenage boy, who was standing near the pool's edge, spotted what was going on and turned to yell at Edith.

"Hey, kid! Don't push my little sister!" He exclaimed belligerently. Edith turned to face him with a look of frustration and crossed her arms, seeming unfazed by his shout.

"She started it!"

"I don't care! Just leave her alone, or there's gonna be a problem!"

"And what problem would that be then?" Jack inquired threateningly, butting into the conversation and looming over the teenager. At first, he was caught off guard by the eighteen-year-old's fiercely intimidating expression, but after regaining his composure, he brought back his original frown. "Because if you know what's good for you, you won't be starting _any_ problems with my little sister…"

"Pfft…well, if _you_ know what's good for you, then _you_ would get out of my face." The boy replied, crossing his arms and craning his neck upwards, in an attempt to look more frightening. He was failing. "My dad owns this hotel, so if she touches my sister again, I'll get you kicked out."

"…and apparently he's been lifting weights for eleven years." Margo explained, as her new friends listened closely while she talked about each member of her family in detail. "So, he's got these really big muscles, and because he's so strong, he thinks he's, like, really cool. But, if we're being honest, I think he's just annoying."

"So…" One of them responded, looking across the pool as he spoke. "Is _that_ him over there?"

Margo turned and spied Jack as he was angrily looming over another teenager, tensing his muscles as he did so to add to his intimidation factor.

"Oh, no…" She muttered under her breath, sighing while she did so. Turning back to her friends, Margo addressed them quickly before setting out across the pool. "I'll be back in a minute."

She dashed through the water as fast as she possibly could, trying to get within earshot of Jack in order to stop him before he did something he would regret. She highly doubted that she'd be able to persuade him, since she'd never managed it before, but it was certainly worth a shot.

"Jack…" Margo exclaimed, paddling up to him so she could try and calm him down. "Please don't-"

"Are you _threatening_ me?" Jack questioned in a low, demonic voice. "If I was you, _pal_ , I really wouldn't do that. You see, you really don't know who you're messing with..."

"Kick his butt, Jack!" Edith exclaimed, punching the air excitedly.

"Shut up, Edith!" Margo yelled, giving her a momentary angry gaze before turning back to her brother. "Jack, think about thi-"

"I already know who I'm messing with!" The boy interrupted, getting in even closer to Jack. "I'm messing with some kid who thinks he's really strong because he has big muscles, but is probably just a big _wuss_! I mean, what're you gonna do if I do this!?"

He attempted to push Jack into the pool and embarrass him in front of everybody, but unfortunately for him, he couldn't really budge him that far at all. However, he did get an answer to his question pretty quickly, as the eighteen-year-old hammered the kid's head so hard, that he would probably wake up later on with some variant of memory-loss…

* * *

Vector had finally arrived. After a terrible dinner at that horrible diner, with all those exasperating families surrounding him saying sickly sweet things, he was finally standing in front of the six-story hotel building.

According to Fullbyte's device, Gru and his daughters were currently here, staying in one of the rooms. That very thought brought a wide and vicious smile to Vector's face. He couldn't wait to barge his way through the doors and watch the bald idiot's terrified face as he shot him dead on the spot. And this time, there wasn't a chance they were getting away.

He would make sure of that.

Practically kicking down the front doors, Vector charged his way into the hotel's main reception, where a bored teenager was currently half-asleep at the front desk. He strutted up to him and hammered his fist on the table, startling the teen out of his trance-like state.

"Woah, dude…not cool." He muttered, giving Vector a dark frown. In no mood for aggressive retorts, the young villain unleashed the pistol from his pocket and aimed it at the teen, who squealed in shock and dived behind his chair. "Woah, woah! Please! Don't shoot!"

"Which room are the Gru family staying in!?" Vector exclaimed loudly, jabbing the air with his pistol, which served to intimidate the teen further.

"Uh…um…" The teen panicked, quickly clicking buttons on his keyboard to find that piece of information as quick as possible. "627! They're in room 627!" He quickly grabbed the keyboard and held it in front of his face, wishing sincerely that it could shield him from the bullet. "Just _please_ don't shoot me!"

Vector gave the young receptionist one last devilish look, before turning around and thundering his way for the elevator. Once the 'out of order' sign caught his attention, he couldn't help but growl loudly under his breath. Not wanting to waste any time, he dashed for the stairs and ran up them as quick as he possibly could, leaping up two steps at a time in order to cover more distance.

After a minute of frantic stair-climbing, Vector made it to the sixth-floor hallway and immediately rushed his way down it. Scanning every room that he passed, the villain searched each door for the numbers '627', the excitement threatening to burst from his lungs.

Finally, those numbers caught his eye, and he came to a halt almost immediately.

Another evil smile spreading across his face, Vector shut his eyes and took in a large breath, preparing himself for this moment. The anticipation was running like a wildfire through his veins, the prospect of blood, screams, and violence being the source of them.

Creaking his joints and taking in one last breath, Vector took a few steps back from the door before thundering forward and kicking it off its hinges. He aimed the gun around the room, and once he'd laid eyes on his target, he pulled the tri-

The room was empty.

No possessions, no suitcases, no…humans. Absolutely nothing, apart from odd pieces of furniture, was inside.

This wasn't happening. He couldn't have escaped a third time. It just wasn't possible, especially with someone like Vector on his trail. Fullbyte's device was still referring to this exact location, so they _MUST_ be here!

In a moment of frantic annoyance, Vector tore his way through everything in front of him, searching desperately for a sign of his target. He threw the mattress's off of the beds, kicked the sofas to the ground, and ripped the doors off of all of the cupboards.

Nothing.

Screaming with anger, Vector pulled the glass door open at speed and practically jumped out on to the balcony, yet again searching everything with his laser-like gaze. When he was yet again met with nothing but a small set of tables and chairs, he sighed in defeat and slumped his head onto the metal bar, having to resist the urge to cry like a small child.

He absolutely couldn't believe that he kept on getting away from him. Maybe his father was right. Maybe he was totally useless at being a villain. Why did he even bother getting back into the profession? He could imagine a million other things that he would rather be doing than pointlessly searching across the state for Gru.

But, then again, seeing Gru's terrified face would be worth all the trouble in the world, especially after what he'd did to him.

With another bolt of determination bolting through his heart, Vector lifted his head again and looked out across the balcony. His eyes widened when he saw Gru's minivan in the parking lot below, and even wider when he saw Gru loading suitcases onto it, wearing an irate expression.

How did he miss that thing when he was walking in!? And for that matter, how did he get past him when he was coming up the stairs? There must've been another staircase somewhere. But where!?

' _This is no time for questions, Victor._ ' He thought to himself, instantly darting his way back through the room and out into the hallway.

Speeding at a pace that probably made his legs a complete blur, Vector darted through the sixth-floor hallway and practically leaped down the steps, just trying to get to his target before he escaped in that damn mini-van again.

However, as his mind filled up to the brim with thoughts about Gru, he mistimed the next step and lost control of his footing, sending him painfully sprawling down the stairs. He couldn't help but yelp slightly as his arms and legs bashed against the marble steps, his muscles practically begging for gravity to stop and let him float to safety.

Then, just as he reached the floor below, his head collided against one of the last steps, instantly knocking him unconscious for the second time in two days…

He didn't have enough time to scoff in annoyance about how tiresome this very situation was becoming…

* * *

The whole family were now back in the mini-van and driving away from the large hotel, a huge silence clouding the interior. Gru was holding back a variety of curse words as he barreled down the road, his grip on the steering wheel being almost frighteningly tight.

After Jack had knocked the teen unconscious, a nearby lifeguard immediately reported it to the hotel's manager, who gave the family an hour to pack up all their things and get out. They even threatened to call the police, but Gru's expression was so stern, that it scared them out of doing so.

He hadn't spoken a single word since they'd been told to leave, and at this point, Lucy was very panicked for his mental condition. Not only that, but his tight grip on the steering wheel was probably damaging his wrists…

The rest of the family were sulking glumly, and occasionally sharing a dark look with Jack, who was obviously to blame for this situation. The teen elected to just keep his head down and not make eye contact with anyone, since not only did he kind of regret his actions, but he was also worried about just _how_ angry everyone was with him.

At least Edith didn't seem that angry. She had actually been smiling ever since Jack had punched him.

"So…what are we gonna do now?" Agnes asked, breaking a very awkward twenty-minute silence. Nobody decided to respond to her, both because they didn't know the answer, and because they were too upset to speak. Eventually, when she realized that she definitely wasn't getting a response, she sighed sadly and sunk into her seat. "I wish we could've stayed at the pool…"

"Well, we know who's to blame for _dat_ , don't we…" Gru muttered irately through gritted teeth. Jack frowned darkly and perked his head up at speed, but before he could retort, Lucy butted in and attempted to keep things calm.

"Alright, I know things aren't great. But, how about we just find another hotel and-"

"Is that it, Gru?" Jack interrupted, seemingly not even hearing any of Lucy's sentence. "Have you got anything else to say or are you just gonna keep mumbling under your breath!?"

"Alright, then! How about dis!?" Gru exclaimed loudly. "Why do yoo have to be such an absolute _idiot_!?"

For a moment, Jack was caught a little off-guard. He was honestly expecting Gru to just stay silent, but after he did actually say something, and at a pretty loud volume at that, his mind took a few seconds to register the situation.

"Idiot!?" He finally exclaimed, balling his fists up. "For what, _defending my sister_!?"

"Look, can we please just-" However, before Lucy could finish, she was interrupted yet again.

"Dere are other ways to defend her dat don't eenvolve _violence_ , Jack!"

"Are you _braindead_!?" Jack shouted, his voice getting louder with each shout. "This is coming from Gru, the man who _PUT A MAN ON THE MOON_ in order to defend his daughters!"

"Dat was DIFFERENT! Deir _LIVES_ were at stake! All dat was at stake here was your stupeed inflated ego!"

"What!? I don't have an ego!"

"Ugh, yoo really are an _idiot_ eef yoo theenk dat! Yoo're de most egotistical, ignorant, conceited person I've ever met _een my life_!"

"Guys! Stop it! You're scaring the-"

"I _DARE_ you to call me an idiot _one more time_ …!"

"Pfft…yoo're not gonna do anytheeng! Yoo're just mad because everytheeng I've said ees 100% _TRUE_!"

"Well, you're just mad because you're an _OLD MAN_ who's on his _last legs_!?"

"Dat ees _NOT_ true!"

"Oh please, you let a bit of _PAPERWORK_ stress you out! Not to mention you couldn't even stop some rookie villain on their first ever heist the other day, you complete _MESS OF A HUMAN BEING_!"

"Comeeng from Mr. ' _I've-had-a-bad-upbreengeeng-so-eet's-okay-for-me-to-be-a-complete-PSYCHOPATH_ ' over dere."

" _WHAT_ did you just say to me!?"

"Margo, I'm scared…"

"Yoo heard me! And anyway, dat guy was just a _FLUKE_!"

"Listen to yourself, Gru! This isn't you! I mean, for an old guy, you sure talk like a _CHILD_!"

" _Yoo_ can't say much! All yoo ever _DO_ ees act like a child, talk like a child, make excuses like a child! WHY DON'T YOO JUST _GROW UP_ AND STOP BEING SUCH A COMPLETE _PAIN EEN DE ASS_!?"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lucy exclaimed, finally ending the argument before Gru ended up losing control of the wheel and crashing the van. Jack and Gru were both violently shaking with rage, and even though she was fairly sure they wouldn't physically hurt each other ever again, she was genuinely worried about an actual fight breaking out in front of the girls.

Talking about the girls, they were in complete shock. Agnes was at the point of tears, Edith was frightened into silence, and Margo was half holding Agnes, and half holding Dru. Meanwhile, Dru had spent the entire time trying to think of a way to stop the argument and bring back a sense of peace, but just like the girls, he was way too scared to say a single word.

Complete silence filled the van again, this one being a much more uncomfortable one than the first. There were way too many descriptive words for the atmosphere inside the vehicle, that it was impossible to just settle on one. It was like a mix of rage, fear, and guilt.

Eventually, and pretty unexpectedly, Gru spun the wheel dangerously and turned off down a pretty baron road, the only things occupying the area being trees and abandoned houses. It was actually a very creepy area, but considering that the anxiety levels were already at their peak, it didn't scare anybody in the slightest.

Going way over the speed limit, Gru thundered his way down the road, making multiple cars swerve off to avoid a possibly fatal collision. After five minutes of perilous driving, he came to a halt and parked outside a battered building, one that looked like a perfect home for rats and cockroaches. There was a broken sign on the roof that was supposed to read 'Motel', but now looked a lot more like 'Mtle'.

Without a word, he rose up from his seat and exited the car with his head down, vaguely motioning for his family to follow him inside. Dru gave Lucy a puzzled expression, hoping that she could answer the question on everyone's mind, but she only returned the exact same thing.

What was happening?

The family wearily followed him through the front doors of the ugly looking establishment, where they were immediately met by a horrible damp smell, and another smell that was probably best undescribed. Gru dashed off ahead and boomed up to the main desk, where a scruffy middle-aged man gave him half a greeting.

"Welcome to our Motel. What do y-"

Before he could finish, Gru reached into his jacket and unleashed the freeze ray, a weapon he hadn't used in a very long time. He pointed it dangerously at the receptionist, who didn't have enough time to question what was happening before he got interrupted.

"Eef yoo do not get us a room een _TWENTY SECONDS_ , den yoo will be frozen een dat spot for three weeks straight…" He grumbled lowly, giving him a more than dangerous expression. "For context, dat ees _plenty_ of time for yoo to starve to death…"

The man didn't reply. Instead, he leaped onto his ancient looking computer and rapidly pressed at a few buttons, the keyboard practically crumbling under his hard jabs. Eventually, a beep sound came from the machine, and the man handed over a set of red keys with the number '16' on them.

"There! There's your room!" He ducked under the table at quite an impressive speed. "Please don't shoot me…"

The director snatched the keys venomously and turned back to his family, all of whom were giving him a look of total and utter disbelief. He marched up to Lucy, who was desperately trying to figure out how to calm him down, and roughly handed her the keys. Giving his wife only a momentary look, he continued past her and headed for the front doors, his every step being a huge thump.

"Where…where are you going?" The redhead questioned, giving him a mixed look of anger and sorrow.

"None of your business." He muttered in response. "Take care of de gurls."

"Wh…I…you…what do you mean it's none of my business?"

"I mean dat _eet's none of your business_! Do I have to say eet another time!?"

The look on Lucy's face was one of total bewilderment. At this point, she didn't even know who she was talking to anymore. In any case, it certainly didn't feel like her husband…

"Brother, please calm dow-"

"Stay out of dis Dru!" Gru exclaimed, interrupting his brother. Startled by his shout, Dru didn't respond and turned away instantly. It took a lot of courage to get those words out, and after a response like that, it would most certainly take a lot of time to build up that same courage again. "I'll see yoo all later…"

"You're…you're actually just gonna leave!?" Lucy exclaimed, stopping him right before he walked out of the building. "Wh…what are we supposed to do!?"

"I'm sure yoo weel figure eet out…" Gru jabbed, giving her an uncomfortably dark expression. "I mean, eet's about time yoo helped out weeth _SOMETHEENG_ on dis treep, don't yoo theenk!?"

He pushed through the doors without another word and stormed off, leaving the lobby in yet another insanely uncomfortable silence. Every part of Lucy's brain shouted at her to chase after him, but for whatever reason, she couldn't move an inch. Instead, she just stared at the door, shocked that this whole situation was even happening.

Only two hours ago, everything was completely fine. In fact, it was more than fine. It was borderline perfect.

But in just that short amount of time, things were suddenly looking pretty bad. She wished sincerely that she confronted Gru about his behavior this morning. She wished more than anything that she persisted after Gru had avoided her questions. She wished with all of her heart that she solved the problem and did something about it before it was too late. Because now, it seemed…

…Gru had reached the end of his tether.

* * *

Perkins sat at his large desk, laying back in his office chair in silence as he awaited his next meeting. He hadn't anticipated this meeting when he woke up this morning, but after being somewhat frightened by a few possibilities that were sat on the path ahead of him, he knew he had to do this as a precaution.

He let out a brisk sigh of fatigue, turning his head around the room to admire a few of the portraits he had hung up in the office. They may have been there for around nine years at this point, but since he had got so accustomed to their presence, he had forgotten how truly magnificent they looked. The paintwork was practically pin-perfect.

That's why it was imperative that he avoided failure in this crucially important plan…

Gru was single-handedly destroying villainy. Not only that, he was also destroying the Bank of Evil. Considering that a few of his original schemes had actually brought in a large profit for the bank, it was crazy how much of a transition he had made from aiding the finances, to strangling them to the point of death.

Every big-named bad-guy that Perkins could've got on his books to put a few million dollars in the bank's treasury had been either scared off or defeated by Gru. Because of this, he had been forced into selling many of their most prized decorations, in order to keep the bank from going completely broke. These portraits were the next to go if he wasn't stopped.

Originally, he wanted to give his son another chance, to be the person that Perkins had always hoped he'd grow up to be. But it was very clear that Vector had other intentions on his mind. He just wanted to spill Gru's blood on the floor and be done with it. But, Perkins had more ambitious ideas of revenge…

So ambitious in fact, that carrying it out would surely cost the bank a six-figure sum, something that they could barely afford as it is. But, that amount of money would be totally worth it to see the complete look of horror on Gru's face, right before he got rid of him once and for all.

Because of this, he really needed things to go right. And, knowing Vector, it was certainly a far cry to assume that things would actually end that way. His incompetence had pushed him past a second chance, and after dwelling on it for a few minutes, Perkins had decided to hire someone else to complete the job, all ready for the inevitable moment when his son messes things up.

After a few more minutes of slightly tiresome waiting, the buzzer beside his speaker sounded, and his secretary alerted him to his new recruit's arrival. Smiling with anticipation, Perkins sat up in his seat as his office door opened.

In walked a tall muscular man with blonde spiky hair and dark glasses. He wore a black, beaten up vest top adorned with a skull, and jeans that had way too many holes for Perkins to count. His arms were littered with scars and tattoos, and his knuckles were red and bruised, as if he'd just punched a brick wall to death. He walked towards Perkins's desk with such a fierce stride, that the floor beneath his feet was shaking to the point where it could give an earthquake a run for its money.

"My, my…" Perkins admired, creaking his neck upwards to meet the man's indifferent facial expression. "You certainly didn't exaggerate in your advertisement."

"Nope." The man spoke, his teeth clamped firmly together as he spoke. He sounded like a classic high-school bully, except for the murderous and slightly demonic atmosphere surrounding him of course.

"Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Bandit." Perkins said, as he rose from his seat to shake the large man's hand. He ensured to get it over with quickly to avoid any damage to his wrists. "I'm sure you're wondering why I invited you here?"

"Uh-huh." Bandit replied, every word laced with a strong venom. "What do you want?"

"Right, you see, from what I've heard…" Perkins started, as he signaled for the man to take a seat. Considering that he didn't move an inch, he either didn't understand the signal, or elected to completely ignore him. Perkins decided to just let it pass and continue. "You're very good at…uh…how should I say… _physical_ persuasion."

"You mean I'm good at knocking people's block off?" Bandit responded, looking like he was having withdrawal symptoms from not punching anybody for five minutes.

"Uh…sure…I guess you could put it like that." Perkins replied, getting a little skittish under the brute's intense gaze. "Anyway, there's been a certain slender bald idiot named Gru that's been causing me a little bit of trouble, and I'd appreciate it if you could help me get some revenge. You see, what I need you to do, is to beat him unconscious, bring him to me, and then help me in getting my long-awaited vengeance against him and his family. Do you understand?"

"Mm-hmm." Bandit spoke as he nodded, his mouth bending into a cruel smile. "Where is this guy then?"

"Well, he's apparently been speeding around in a mini-van, so it's anybody's best guess…" Perkins answered, as he leaned back in his chair again and smiled. "But it's lucky I know someone who's got us covered. It looks like we'll need to stop off at my friend Fullbyte's house before you get going."

"Why do we need to do that?" Bandit questioned, grinding his knuckle into the palm of his other hand. "I'm itching for a pounding."

"Yes, yes, I know." Perkins responded, nodding as he swiveled around in his chair. "But I need you to get to Gru quickly, and Fullbyte will help you track him down. You see, I've already sent my son after him, but he's been completely useless thus far. If we're being honest, I'm tired of playing games with this guy…"

"I just want Gru _now_ …"

* * *

 _I really hope you enjoyed. Things took a little bit of a turn in this chapter, I know. But I've just had a complete change of mind and have decided to completely alter the story's original plot._

 _If we're being honest, I wasn't too happy with the last chapter. I think I maybe could've done a better job of it, and I'll probably end up re-writing it at some point. But, I did get some very nice reviews, so I'm glad that you enjoyed it nonetheless._

 _If you decided to review this one, or if you reviewed the last chapter, then I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. I say it literally every time. That's cuz it's true._

 _Also, sorry if you noticed any mistakes. I'm proofreading this with a pretty bad hangover, so there's probably some stupid typos somewhere._

 _Will return ASAP :)_


	7. The Scary Orange-Pajama Man

_Wow, somehow managed to get two chapters out in a week. Hopefully, I can keep this going._

 _As I always say, hope you enjoy :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Seven:  
** _ **The Scary Orange-Pajama Man**_

The whole family, obviously apart for Gru, sat sorrowfully in the disgusting, tiny motel room. Margo and Agnes were sat on one bed, comforting each other quietly. Dru and Edith were sat on another, the both of them unusually silent. Lucy was sat on a chair in front of the window, staring out in the hopes of watching her husband return. While Jack was sat in the corner, his back turned against the family.

They were all thinking pretty much the same thing. Where was Gru? How did this even happen? How did everything turn from good to bad in that short amount of time? Though all those questions were in burning need of answers, the main one they wanted to clear up was the first.

Gru had been gone for just over an hour at this point, and the longer he was gone, the more frantically worried the family got. Although, thinking about it logically, they were probably worrying over nothing. Chances are, the stress of the faltering road trip and the demanding director job finally got to him, and he probably just needed some alone time.

However, something at the back of Lucy's mind was telling her otherwise.

He _never_ got that mad. He would usually get pretty angry with the AVL agents whenever they messed up, in order to demonstrate his dominance, but never with his own family. It just didn't feel right. She felt like there was something else, some other unidentifiable reason, for this sudden outburst.

Was it _her_? He did imply that she hadn't been helping with anything on the trip, so maybe her decision to sit back and try to have fun was the wrong one. She shouldn't have expected Gru to organize all of this on his own and not feel some sort of stress repercussion. In fact, now that she thought about it, that should've been obvious…

She just hoped she was overthinking this. Again, maybe he just needed some space to relax and regather his thoughts alone. Given time, this whole situation would probably just resolve itself…

Jack was thinking along fairly similar lines, although in his case, most of his more rational thoughts were overcome with some pretty strong guilt. He never meant for this to happen. He was just defending his actions at the pool. He never thought Gru would have a near meltdown and storm off.

Maybe he should've just accepted his wrong-doing and apologized. That way, Gru would still be here and there wouldn't be any need to worry about his whereabouts.

On that topic, there was another wrong-doing he should probably apologize for. Of course, it was _his_ stupid decisions that pushed Gru past his limit, so it should be up to him to help rectify this whole situation. Not only did he owe it to Gru, but he owed it to the whole family.

Turning around slowly, the teen looked over at everyone for a moment, trying hard to produce the courage to open his mouth. After spending another few seconds trapped in a nervous silence, Jack dropped his head with a sigh and finally managed to speak.

"I'm sorry, guys…" He muttered, ensuring that he didn't make eye-contact with anyone, since he knew it would only make it harder to talk. At the sound of his quiet voice, the rest of them immediately looked up and turned to him, offering him conflicting expressions of annoyance and surprise. "I'm sorry for…getting angry and…saying all that stuff and…making Gru storm off."

"It's a bit too late for that though, isn't it?" Lucy replied lowly, as the teen raised his head and looked up at her miserably.

"I didn't think he was gonna get that angry…"

"You had plenty of opportunities to stop shouting though, Jack. You knew he was already really stressed, so you should've stopped the second he yelled back."

"But I was just…I was only standing up for myself…"

"But couldn't you have just been quiet, _for once_!?" Margo exclaimed, butting herself into the conversation. She clearly caught Jack off guard, since his saddened look was swapped out for one of surprise when he turned to look at her.

"Well, okay, in hindsight I would've. But…I…I didn't realize that he was _that_ stressed out."

"Have you been on a different trip or something?" Lucy jabbed sternly. She was very clearly trying to keep herself calm in front of the girls, since her frown was much more aggressive than her tone of voice. "Almost _everything_ has gone wrong so far. Do you think that's been easy on him? And that's not counting the two months of stressing himself out as the AVL director before we even went on this stupid trip."

"Well, look…I…I just…I don't know what else to say…" Jack mumbled, turning back around and massaging his strained forehead. "I'm just a complete and utter idiot…"

The small room was yet again plunged into an uncomfortable silence. Everyone put their heads down and thought to themselves silently, each one of them trying to figure out a way to resolve this situation. All apart for Edith, who decided to share her thoughts with everyone else.

"Mom?" At the sound of her voice, Lucy slowly turned around and immediately disguised her concerned look, in order to avoid upsetting the girls further.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Why does dad stay as the director if he doesn't like it?"

For a few seconds, Lucy didn't know how to reply. To be fair, it was a very good question. The director job was obviously a very challenging and stressful occupation, so why didn't Gru just revert to his old agent job and ditch all the tedious paperwork and long nights?

If he did, he could simply focus on one mission, instead of having to deal with every single one the AVL faced. To put it into perspective, the USA AVL branch were sent out to stop at least three heists every day, and Gru was in charge of planning out a method to stop every single one. Occasionally, when all the agents on their books were already tied up in stopping another heist, he would also be the one to go out and put that method into action.

All of that certainly didn't sound like much fun, and considering how much it had negatively altered Gru's mental state, it very clearly wasn't.

"I…I don't know, Edith." She responded softly. "Maybe…maybe he just doesn't want to give it up. It is still pretty cool being the director of a huge organization, y'know."

"But I'm worried about heem, Lucy!" Dru exclaimed, turning to face her at speed. He obviously found her answer to be pretty unconvincing. In fact, Lucy found her own answer to be pretty unconvincing. "My brother would _never_ yell at us like dat! Eet's like dis whole director theeng has… _completely_ _changed_ heem!"

"Okay, I wouldn't go that far." Lucy refuted, trying to speak as calm and reassuring as possible. "He's still the same person. He just…got a little upset, that's all."

" _A leetle upset!?_ " Dru repeated, scrunching his face up in disbelief. "I don't theenk yoo can characterize screaming, storming off, and leaveeng us een some disgusteeng dump as ' _a leetle upset_ '!?"

"Dru, just listen to me, everything's going to be fine." Lucy soothed, looking at the girls as well as the blonde villain, in an attempt to comfort everyone at once. "Yes, Gru got very angry, but he's not gonna be angry forever. I guarantee that he'll come back, give us all a big apology hug, and then we can get out of this horrible place and carry on with the trip."

At this point, Lucy was desperately attempting to not only calm her family's fears, but her own as well. She had to admit, it wasn't working. Both with herself, and by spying the dejected expressions on Dru and the girls' faces, them as well.

"But what _if_ he doesn't come back?" Agnes questioned, getting closer and closer to tearing up.

"No, Agnes, don't think like that." Lucy replied gently, putting an arm around her. "Trust me, he will. I _know_ he will."

She quite clearly wasn't convinced, judging by the fact that she buried her face in Lucy's side and tried to search for some comfort. It was hurting her heart to see her like that. What made it worse, was the fact that no amount of reassuring was going to work. She literally couldn't do anything to cheer her up. Until Gru did actually return, they were all going to be sat here in this hotel room, with a horrible feeling of worry hanging over their heads…

"Right, that's it." Lucy stated confidently, standing up at speed. The girls gave their mother an odd look as she ran over and grabbed her coat, a pleasant smile spread across her face. "Let's go find him!"

Even though they were a little caught off guard by her announcement, everyone seemed to lighten up a little at that proposition, since sitting around doing absolutely nothing was getting very tedious and worrisome. They all looked at each other with a faint, hopeful smile, all except for Dru, who stood up and gave her a doubtful look.

"But Lucy, eet's been an hour since he left! He could be literally anywhere at dis point. We'll never find heem…"

"Well, it's better than sitting around and worrying, isn't it?" Lucy responded, as she ran back over to the girls and kneeled down to talk to them directly. "Come on! We've still got a family road trip to finish!"

* * *

With his head down as far as he could lower it, Gru was traipsing sluggishly down the long and winding barren road, not paying heed to anything but his own thoughts. He'd been walking around in circles for about an hour at this point, ensuring that he didn't go too far away from the disgruntled motel building.

Originally, all he could feel was unbridled anger, but after walking around and clearing his head, his thoughts were now dominated by feelings of intense guilt. How could he ever scream at his wife, brother and son like that? How could he ever scare his own daughters in that fashion? How could he ever storm off and abandon them in some horrible, beaten down building like he had just done?

He didn't know what came over him. It was like all this stress that he'd been feeling had took complete control of his brain, making him do things that he would never, ever do to his own family. It was strange, because if he'd done that exact same thing and scared the living hell out of someone _before_ he'd adopted the girls, he'd be proud right now.

It showed just how quickly things had changed, since what he was feeling right now was far, far away from the definition of pride…

He looked back over all those stupid things that he'd said to Jack and Lucy. He regretted almost every single word. He couldn't remember exactly, since some memories were blurred with anger, but he swore that he made fun of Jack's terrible upbringing somewhere in there. How could he ever do that?

And then he accused Lucy of doing absolutely nothing on this road trip. That just wasn't true. She'd been helping him by simply being the lovable spouse that he adored so much. If it wasn't for her, he surely would've gone crazy weeks ago…

And there he was, screaming at her like this was all her fault…

' _God, why am I such a complete idiot!?'_ He thought to himself, as the vague feeling of a soon-to-be headache signaled itself at the back of his eye.

Sighing, Gru turned off the path and into the neighboring wood, ignoring the wet mud that occasionally splashed up his leg as he stepped hard into the marsh-like ground. He marched up to the nearest tree and put his head against it, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

What did he do now? Did he stay here and lean against this tree for a while? Did he go for another walk down the road and try to clear his head again? Did he head back to the motel building and apologize? That last option scared him a little, since he was unsure as to whether or not his family would accept his apology.

He didn't deserve a great family like them, so even though it would permanently break his heart beyond repair, he would understand if they decided against forgiving him.

Finally, he growled and punched the tree hard, breaking into the bark and leaving an evident dent. When he realized just how therapeutic it was to feel the pain soar in his knuckles, he proceeded to punch it over and over, each one becoming less and less powerful as his energy levels sapped away.

Eventually, when he felt like his hand was about to fall off, he sighed somberly and turned away, looking off into the dense woodland. As he stood and stared at random trees and pieces of foliage, a figure seemingly faded into existence, catching him off guard completely. He stared profusely at it, trying to identify what the hell it was. And that's when he finally figured it out…

It was the demon from his nightmare.

"Hello again, Felonious." It spoke devilishly, grinning as it did so. Its voice was so unexpectedly loud in the director's head, even though it must've been around one-hundred meters away from him. "You're almost there, my old friend. Just carry on down this road. Don't go back to that motel. Ditch that family once and for all. Then…we can be together. Just like the good old days…"

"No…yoo can't…dis ees not…" Gru muttered in reply, shaking his head as he tried hard to speak coherently. "How are yoo here? Yoo don't exist! Yoo're just een my head!"

The demon's evil smile grew more intense.

"Oh, Felonious…" It spoke, chuckling a little. "Just because I'm in your head, doesn't mean that I don't exist. I mean, think of all those years we spent together. I definitely existed then, didn't I?"

"What de hell are yoo on about!?" Gru exclaimed. "We never spent any time together! I don't even know what yoo are!"

"You never needed to know before, Felonious." It responded sadly, shaking its head as if it was disappointed. "You never needed to question everything like you do now. You just used to go with the flow, do whatever I told you to. But now…ugh…well, things have changed now, haven't they?"

"Wh…I…what are you…" Gru stuttered, not knowing how to respond. After a few seconds of total confusion, he gritted his teeth in rage and spat words at it like a turret. "What de _HELL_ are yoo on about!? CAN YOO JUST START MAKEENG _SENSE_!"

It cackled evilly before responding.

"Apologies, Felonious, but _you_ are the one that doesn't make sense. Ditching me to be with those girls. Abandoning me to spend time with your wife. Going off and doing the exact opposite of every single _blasted thing I SAY_! I would love it if you could make sense of _that_ situation!"

Gru watched wearily as it started edging treacherously towards him.

"Well, do you know what, Felonious? I am _done_. Once all this stress causes you to completely lose control, I'll be waiting. And that family of yours, well… _they won't see it coming_."

"No!" Gru exclaimed, closing his eyes and grabbing onto his head with all his strength. "No! No! _No_! I won't let dat happen! I won't let yoo hurt dem! Just… _just get out of my head_!"

For a few more seconds, he simply kept his eyes closed, hoping sincerely that the figure would be gone when he reopened them. Finally, pushing his reluctance aside, the former villain let go of his head and dared a look, sighing with relief when he saw that the demonic figure had vanished.

However, he didn't have enough time to notice the much larger human figure to his right, who punched him unconscious before he could even react…

* * *

"Gru!?"

"Dad!?"

"Brother!?"

As the family walked down the road for the fourth time, shouting Gru's name at the top of their lungs, almost every ounce of hope and determination they had left was fading. The sun was starting to set, and if they didn't find Gru soon, then they would be searching around a woodland in the blinding dark of night. That certainly wouldn't make this affair any easier…

Lucy was attempting to call Gru on his cell phone, in the hopes that he would pick up and provide them with his location, but after being met with a voicemail response for the seventh time, she gave up with a sad sigh and slipped the phone back into her pocket.

"Mom?" Agnes mumbled, tugging on Lucy's pant leg. The redhead looked down into the six-year-old's wide, sad eyes, and felt her heart sting a little. "I'm getting scared…"

"Agnes, sweetie…" She replied, leaning down and holding the small girl close. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll find Gru and get outta here really soon, I promise…"

"You've been saying that for the past hour," Edith replied irately, frowning. "What if he just drove back home and left us here?"

"But the minivan's still there," Margo informed, pointing over at the motel parking lot, which was only a little way down the road. "So, he must be around here somewhere…"

"Well, what if he just got a cab? What if he called Dr. Nefario and got the minions to pick him up?" Edith argued, racking her brain for more possible ways of traversing home. She thought back to that moment three months ago, the day before they met Jack, when Gru had completely disappeared from the front doorstep. "Or, what if he got _kidnapped_ like the last time he went missing!?"

"Edith! Be quiet!" Lucy exclaimed, giving her a frown when she felt Agnes hold onto her a little tighter. "You're scaring your sister!"

"But what if it's true!?"

"But it's not!" Margo stated sternly, trying to get her little sister to be quiet, so she'd stop putting bad thoughts in their heads. "He just got angry and stormed off, okay! _That's it!_ "

"Ugh, dis ees all your fault, Jack!" Dru jabbed, gathering the teen's attention as he was urgently looking behind various nearby trees. "Nice goeeng!"

"Hey! Don't you think I already know that!?" He exclaimed angrily, getting closer to the blonde villain. "And anyway, it isn't _all_ my fault! You guys had something to do with it as well!"

"Well, eet was _yoo_ who gave Edith dat coffee, eet was _yoo_ who made us walk all de way to your old house, eet was _yoo_ who punched dat keed at de hotel, eet was _yoo_ who yelled at him een de car! _Everytheeng_ ees on _yoo_!"

"It wasn't _just_ this terrible road trip though, was it!?" Jack rebutted, proceeding to say something that had been playing on his mind for almost two hours now. "Maybe if we had _ALL_ been a better family, he wouldn't have been so stressed out all the time…"

And with that, another silence fell on them all. They all quickly turned away from each other and avoided eye contact, the only sound being the small breeze and the occasional chirp of a bird. They continued to stand silently on the roadside path, their minds filled with guilt and panic, until Lucy motioned vaguely towards the motel, sighing as she listlessly traipsed in that direction.

"Look…let's just head back to the room…"

"But what about daddy?" Agnes asked, looking up at Lucy with another distressed gaze.

"We'll just have to wait for him to come back, sweetie." Lucy mumbled gravely, holding onto her fatigued head. "There's…there's nothing else we can do…"

Without a word, everyone put their heads down sadly and followed behind her, walking at a pace that was similar to that of a snail. They occasionally caught a glance of the setting sun, and each time they did, that worrying question would come back in their heads and they'd feel the fear grow that little bit larger.

Was Gru going to come back?

Speeding down the road with aggressive haste, Vector raced his way down the woodland road towards the motel building, his foot pressed hard against the accelerator. The last time he'd checked the tracking device, the coordinates were referring to this location. Hopefully, he thought to himself, there would be no issues this time.

Or, more notably, he wouldn't be knocked unconscious this time…

He sped into the parking lot and jumped out of his vehicle, taking a moment to observe the repulsive building in front of him. Even though it looked terrible, Vector couldn't help but grin, since he couldn't imagine a better location to spill Gru's blood across the floor. Feeling the weight of the gun in his pocket, and then subsequently the weight of the tracking device, Vector took out the latter and double-checked that this was definitely the correct location.

However, after being met by block red text that read 'ERROR: CONNECTION LOST', his prior grin immediately dissipated. For a moment, all he could do was stare at it in disbelief, feeling a wave of complete anger boil up inside him.

Finally, in a moment of sheer rage, the young villain turned around and sprinted over to the woodland, throwing the device as far as he could in anger.

"YOU STUPID PIECE OF-"

However, right before he could finish his angry exclamation, three high-pitch gasps of complete shock interrupted him. Momentarily confused, he looked sideways to identify who it came from, and upon making eye-contact with the three Gru sisters, his mouth fell open in shock.

"It's the scary orange-pajama man!" Agnes screeched, leaping behind Lucy's legs to protect herself. A moment later, Margo and Edith did the exact same thing to Dru and Jack respectively, as they stared at Vector with a look of fear and anger.

"Who?" Lucy questioned, keeping an eye on the strange young man, who seemed a little dazed in surprise.

"It's _Vector_!" Margo answered loudly, the sound of his own name snapping the villain out of his small trance. "He was the one who kidnapped us from the dance recital!"

Dru, Lucy, and Jack were all still completely confused, but after the teenager spotted him reaching for what looked like a handgun in his pocket, he leaped forward and tackled him to the ground before he could unleash it. The weapon went flying across the parking lot, landing just in front of the minivan.

As Jack sat on top of him, staring dead into his eyes, he came to a frightening conclusion. If this man had at some point kidnapped the girls from a dance recital, then he was obviously an enemy of Gru. And, considering that he was here right now, not too long after Gru had completely disappeared, then had he…

"What have you done with Gru!?" Jack questioned at the top of his voice, shaking him as he laid helpless on the floor. Vector was giving him a look of total terror, and thus, couldn't respond. "I swear to god, if you've hurt him, I will break every god-damn bone in your whole body!"

"Woah, woah, woah! I haven't! I haven't! I swear I haven't done anything to Gru!"

"Well, what are you doing here!?" Margo asked aggressively, feeling confident enough to yell at him now that Jack had trapped him on the floor.

"I…I…I was just…walking around…enjoying the scener-"

"Lies!" Jack interrupted, screaming in his face. After a second, the eighteen-year-old elected to lift him up off his feet and carry him roughly through the parking lot, motioning for the rest of the family to follow him.

"Come on!" He exclaimed, heading towards the mini-van. "We gotta get back to the mansion!"

"Wait, what!? Jack, slow down!" Lucy responded, sprinting over to run beside him. Dru followed slowly behind, the girls sticking close to him out of fear. "What are you on about!?"

Delaying his response, Jack opened the doors to the minivan and threw the villain inside. He leaned down and picked up the aforementioned handgun, which was of a similar design to the one he'd threatened Gru with three months ago, before entering the vehicle and aiming it at him. Vector put up his hands immediately and tried to shrink down to make himself a smaller target.

"No! Please, don't shoot! I swear I haven't-"

"If you don't _SHUT UP_ right this second, then you might have some trouble avoiding your _death_!" Vector didn't need to be told twice, as he quickly complied and kept his mouth shut. Keeping the gun locked on him, the teen turned to Lucy, who was stood in the doorway of the minivan with a perplexed look on her face, and answered her question from earlier. "I think Edith might be right. I think Gru's been kidnapped."

"But, how do you-"

"Lucy, think about it! Gru's stormed off and seemingly disappeared completely, and one of his old _enemies_ …" He paused to cast a momentary dark look on Vector, who was spinning his head around his surroundings, trying to determine some sort of escape route. "Is hanging around outside. Is that just some sort of crazy coincidence?"

"Well, yeah, it could be! What if Gru's still around here and this guy just happened to pass by?"

"Come on, Lucy, be real," Jack replied, shaking his head. "We've been searching for like an hour now, and there's no sign of him. Plus, if we head back and get Dr. Nefario to track down Gru with his supercomputer, we can just come back here and get him if you're right."

Lucy let out a sigh. "I guess. That also gives us a chance to interrogate…um…Vuc…Voc… _Vector_?"

"It's _Victor_!" The young villain exclaimed violently, as he continued to lay totally helpless on the floor of the minivan.

"What did I say about _SHUTTING UP_!?" Jack shouted. Moving over and throwing the villain into the minivan's bathroom, the teen locked the toilet's door and turned back to Lucy, nodding his head towards the driver's seat. "Come on! Let's get going!"

Letting out yet another defeated sigh, Lucy turned back to her daughters and Dru, who were all still looking fearful, and dropped her head a little. She was getting sick and tired of seeing their frightened faces today. All she wanted right now, was to get them all smiling again.

But, until Gru was found, there wasn't a chance that was happening, no matter how hard she tried.

"I'm sorry, girls…" She muttered, as she motioned for them and Dru to follow her into the van. "The…uh…the trip's canceled…"

She had to ignore the upset groans and complaints that soon followed, which proved to be a much more arduous task than first thought. She slowly trudged over to the steering wheel and slumped down in front of it, sighing for an unusually extensive amount of time. Today had been an extremely stressful day, full to the brim with doubts, worries, and an unshakeable feeling that something very bad had happened.

Was it Vector? Was he the source of that feeling? Something was telling her no, since Gru would easily be able to stop some punk like him from hurting him. Although, saying that, the two of them had failed to stop another punk villain before they left for this trip, so who knows?

If there was another reason behind this unshakeable feeling, then Lucy was having trouble pinpointing exactly what it was. Well, it was either that, or she was just too afraid to admit the reason…

* * *

With a painful groan, Gru slowly lifted his head and edged his eyes open, feeling the hardened discomfort bulge powerfully in his head. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a recollection of the events prior to blacking out. He could remember screaming at his family and storming off, something he wished he couldn't remember, and then he could remember detouring into the forest…but, the rest was just a blur.

He could already feel the bands tied around his hands and feet, and the uncomfortable wood of the chair pressed on his back, so hazarding a guess, someone probably came and kidnapped him. Whoever that person was seemed to be a faded memory, but by inspecting his surroundings and identifying where exactly he was, he'd hopefully find some sort of answer.

Once he opened his eyes and turned his head around the dark room, three figures immediately caught in his gaze. One was a very large man with spikey blonde hair and black shades, another was a short and stout elderly man wearing a fancy embroidered gown, and another was…

"Perkins?" Gru questioned aggressively, narrowing his eyes at his old foe. Immediately after speaking, a large beep sound emitted from a nearby supercomputer, something Gru hadn't noticed beforehand. He had to question how he didn't, since the large system took up the majority of the room.

"VOICE DETECTION SUCCESSFUL." A robotic voice proclaimed. The elderly man proceeded to press a variety of buttons on the huge keyboard in front of him, seeming extremely focused.

In terms of appearance, he seemed to slightly resemble Floyd Eaglestan, the owner of Eagle Hair Club, only a lot older and with a different hair color. But, in terms of the impression he gave off, there was certainly something odd about him, something Gru couldn't quite put his finger on.

Maybe it was the hundreds of unknown technologies that surrounded him, all of which looked like they belonged in an episode of a complex sci-fi show. Yeah, maybe it was that…

"Did you get that Fullbyte?" Perkins inquired, turning away from the AVL director.

"Of course," Fullbyte replied, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Just give me a moment to set it all up and we should be good to go."

"Good…" Perkins responded lowly, a malevolent smile spreading across his features. Looking back at Gru, the large man stood there for a moment, admiring the look of pure rage on his face. It looked like he wanted to rip his head off, and since that very prospect was a complete impossibility while he was strapped to that chair, he found it to be extremely amusing. "Hello again, Mr. Gru. It sure has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Let me out of dis chair, Perkins! I swear, theengs will be a _lot_ more deeficult eef yoo do not!"

"I think I'll pass on that." Perkins retorted, as he moved closer to his helpless hostage to loom over him. Gru was doing his best to disguise all hints of fear, which, considering how many times he'd been kidnapped over the past twenty years, wasn't a very difficult task. "You can't do a thing while you're strapped to that chair, so I think I'll be safe. Anyway, pleasantries aside, you're probably wondering why I invited you here."

" _Invited_ ees not de right word…" Gru uttered quietly, binding his teeth together in anger. Perkins chuckled a little before continuing.

"Well, it's a very long story. But, considering the circumstances…" He paused momentarily to cast a wicked look at the encompassing ropes around his hands. "I think we have plenty of time…"

Digging his dark gaze into him like a drill, Gru couldn't hold back the fierce growl that emitted from his voice box. Even though it was supposed to act as a type of coercion method, it seemed that Perkins was enjoying every last moment of his threatening sounds, something that proved to add to his anger.

"So, obviously, a lot of things have changed since we last talked," Perkins spoke, leaning back in his chair in thought. "You ditching villainy to start a family, you joining the AVL and subsequently becoming the director, you _STRANGLING_ my bank's finances to the brink of bankruptcy! It sure has been a rollercoaster ride for you, hasn't it?"

Gru didn't grace him with a response. Instead, he continued to stare darkly at Perkins, hoping it would somehow frighten him into releasing him. Something told him that his efforts would surely be fruitless.

"It feels like only yesterday that you were strutting into my office, requesting loans for your evil schemes. Some, admittingly, were complete wastes of money. Like that one where you stole the small Eiffel Tower figure from Las Vegas. That one was… _outlandish_ , to say the least. But others, well, others really brought in the cash. Overall, you were very beneficial to the bank, financially speaking of course."

"What ees your point, Perkins!?" Gru finally questioned, obviously impatient.

"I miss those days, Gru." He stated, leaning in closer to address him directly. Gru's look of ire made way slightly for a look of confusion. "There aren't many other villains out there that have the skill and determination that you possess. You were one of the brightest and most successful villains of the bunch. Though a few of your final heists under my backing were unsuccessful, I could never forget how much money you were pumping in at the beginning. Hell, the bank would probably have gone under if it wasn't for you."

Pausing for a second, Perkins looked to his side and let out a scoff, shaking his head as a look of total disappointment plastered itself across his face.

"And now look at you. Some goody-two-shoes who's wasting away his skills as the AVL director. It's a real shame to see such talent get flushed down the drain…"

"Pfft…eet seems dat _I_ am not de only one who's changed!" Gru boomed. Perkins turned to him with a look of befuddlement. "What about all does theengs yoo said before!? _Ooo, far too few of your plots are turneeng een a profeet, dere are many other villains dat are younger and hungrier dan yoo!_ What's weeth de sudden change een tone!?"

"I may be a man of perfection, Gru, but I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong. Those younger, hungrier villains that I mentioned before…well, let's just say, they weren't what I was expecting. Experience is key in this day and age, and you're a man who's got that in the buck load."

Gru scowled and turned his head away, the same way a picky young child would do when offered a vegetable.

"I do not care, Perkins! Dis ees not happeneeng!" He exclaimed. "Eet was fun while eet lasted but...dere ees not a chance dat I am getteeng back eento villainy! Dose days are _over_ , okay! Dis ees de life dat I have chosen, and dat ees _final_!"

Perkins chuckled lowly.

"You are mistaken, Gru…"

Gru turned back to face him slowly, his frown softening a little.

"…you see, I wasn't giving you a choice on the matter…"

Perkins stood up and walked back over to the supercomputer, where Fullbyte was overlooking every tiny detail on his computer monitor to ensure that there were no complications. Once he was certain that everything was ready, he turned to his accomplice and nodded, being met by a wide elated smile in return.

"Could you load the example please, Fullbyte?"

Without a response, the elderly villain turned and pressed one of the larger keys on his expansive keyboard, making multiple nearby computers whirr loudly. Even though he was too perplexed to even hazard a guess of what was happening, there wasn't a chance that Gru could ever expect what happened next.

" _Hello, my name ees Felonious Gru. Even though I am completely inept at makeeng life choices, I am definitely one of de best villains een de business. Weeth a leetle bit of help from my friend Perkins, I will certainly blossom eento an unstoppable killeeng machine, capable of pumpeeng millions of dollars eento de Bank of Evil's treasury. De earth has my utmost sympathies, but once I am done weeth yoo, nobody will be free from my reign of terror. Not even my own family…"_

Gru stared in shock as the supercomputer's speakers spoke those words in the exact same tone and accent as himself. It was scarily accurate in the way it portrayed him. In fact, it was completely faultless in the way it portrayed him. Though the very prospect that Perkins could imitate him with such clarity was quite terrifying, Gru couldn't help but find it incredibly impressive.

"Woah…" He muttered, turning to Perkins and Fullbyte in awe.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Fullbyte declared, a haunting smile dominating his face. "It's a little something I've been working on for the past few months. You record someone's voice, type in what you want them to say, and the computer will speak the words in a perfect rendition of said voice. Not to toot my own horn here, but…I think it's up there with some of my best inventions."

"Uh…well, dat ees…very cool and all…but what ees de use of haveeng a machine dat can speak exactly like me?"

"Well, I figured that attempting to _persuade_ you into ditching your family and rejoining villainy would be pretty pointless," Perkins started, the grin on his face seeming impenetrable. "But, if I can get a machine that'll speak exactly like you, and then make your family _think_ that you've ditched them and rejoined villainy, then you'll pretty much have no choice but to do so."

"No…" That was the only word that Gru could speak, since the feeling of panic surfacing in his chest sent his thoughts astray. He very quickly realized the sheer magnitude of this terrible situation, especially since he'd just stormed off in anger and abandoned them in some grubby motel room. It wouldn't be too difficult for Perkins to convince them that he hated them. "Yoo…dey…dis…I won't let yoo-"

"Is this your phone?" Perkins interrupted, removing the aforesaid cellular device from his pocket. Gru stared apprehensively as he strutted over to him, flicking through his contacts with a smile. "Hmm…who's Lucy?"

"She's…uh..." Gru replied, trying to keep his composure intact. It was proving to be a very laborious task. "She's nobody."

"You certainly have a lot of pictures of her on here." He spoke, chuckling a little. After a few seconds of scrolling through the gallery of images, one of the pictures caught him a little off guard, making his eyes widen and his expression change. However, it didn't take long for his malicious smile to return. "Are…are you married to her, Gru?"

"What!? Of course, no-" However, he had to interrupt himself when Perkins turned the phone around. It was the picture of him and Lucy on their wedding day, with the girls, Dr. Nefario, his mother, and two of the minions surrounding them. He growled and sent the Bank of Evil owner a fierce look. "Yoo're really oversteppeeng de line here, Perkins…"

"Hmm…I wouldn't say that, Gru. You see, I've barely even started." He replied, as he navigated his way back to the contacts screen. "Why don't we give her a call…"

* * *

Ignoring the speed limit, Lucy was practically racing down every road on her way back to the mansion, her mind filled with only worry. She was worried about Vector's involvement, she was worried about the girls' sorrow, and she was extremely worried about Gru's location. Even though she knew that Dr. Nefario would almost definitely help find him, there was still that niggling doubt in her mind…

What if they were too late?

Dru was sat beside her in the passenger seat, completely silent. The girls were sat around one of the small tables behind her, looking out the window in search of their father. And Jack was stood beside the bathroom door, occasionally punching it and telling Vector to shut up when he would try and make a sarcastic remark.

"You know this is just a waste of time, right!?" The villain exclaimed from inside the toilet. "I don't have a clue where Gru is, so don't even bother questioning me!"

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, Vector…" Jack muttered dangerously, giving the door a very sharp gaze.

"It's _Victor_!"

Huffing loudly, the teen gave the door another strong punch, immediately frightening Vector into silence. That must've been the seventh time that very conversation had happened in the last half-an-hour, including the punch to the door, and Jack's patience was starting to wear thin.

Around the table, the girls were switching their frightened gazes from the window to the bathroom door periodically, whether it was to look for Gru or to ensure that Vector hadn't escaped. They had been mostly silent since they'd left the motel parking lot, both out of worry for their dad, and disappointment for the trip cancellation.

"I wish we didn't have to go home…" Edith sulked, resting her head in her arms. "I wanna carry on with the trip."

"Me too, Edith..." Margo replied, looking at the floor sadly. "But you know we can't. Not while dad's missing."

"I know…" The ten-year-old replied, sighing. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck…"

Margo gave her a small sideways look before returning her gaze to the floor.

"Has the scary pajama-man hurt daddy?" Agnes asked, looking at Margo with an expression that begged her to say no. The twelve-year-old was just about to comply with her wish, if it wasn't for Edith beating her to the punch and doing the exact opposite.

"Probably." She muttered sorrowfully, glancing at the bathroom door. "Why else do you think he's here?"

"Edith…" Margo spoke lowly, giving her a stern look before turning to Agnes with a much softer one. "I'm sure dad is fine. Vector was probably just walking past, I doubt he had anything to do with dad disappearing…"

"Alright, well, if he didn't take dad, then where is he?" Edith asked, returning Margo's previous stern look. The twelve-year-old turned back to face her little sister with an expression of discontent. "He wasn't around the motel, he isn't answering his phone, he didn't take the minivan. Face it Margo, he was either kidnapped, or he hates us."

"Daddy hates us?" Agnes inquired, her voice tightening up that little bit more with each new question.

"No, of course not," Margo said soothingly. "He just got angry, that's all. _Everyone_ gets angry once and a while. That doesn't mean that he hates us."

"Then why doesn't he pick up mom's calls?" Edith butted in, dropping her head back into her arms again.

"He's probably just really busy."

"With what?"

"I…he…I don't know, okay!" Margo stated loudly in annoyance. "But look, he probably just needs some time for himself or something. I know for sure that he doesn't hate us."

At that point, Lucy felt her phone vibrate violently in her pocket, coupled with the jolly ringtone. Attempting to fish it out while keeping control of the van, she kept her eyes fixed to the road as she carefully slipped the device out of her pocket. However, when she saw Gru's name flashing on the screen, every aspect of road safety went out of the window, and she let go of the steering wheel to answer it with lightning speed.

"Gru!?" She exclaimed, ignoring the truck that they were about to collide with. Thankfully, Dru leaped over and grabbed the steering wheel, swerving it away from an almost certain fatal accident. As that happened, Jack and the girls ran to overhear the conversation, relief washing over everyone in unison. "Thank god you're okay! You had me really wor-"

" _Lucy, I am calleeng to tell yoo dat I am DONE weeth de lot of yoo!_ " Gru's voice exclaimed from over the phone, laced with a very clear sense of fury. The AVL agent took a moment to register what he'd just said, but after it clicked, she felt her heart rate rise tenfold. " _I have realized today dat I am sick and tired of everytheeng een my life! De AVL job and YOO have been makeeng eet a complete nightmare! So, I will be rejoineeng de villainy profession, and I will be stickeeng weeth eet permanently!"_

"Wh…what are you-"

" _I will also be fileeng for divorce right after dis phone call! Don't EVER contact me again! Goodbye…"_

The call cut off.

His voice was replaced with a long, low-pitch tone.

The next few seconds ran like an eternity in Lucy's mind, as she stared dead forward with the blankest of expressions. She slipped the phone back into her pocket, her hands trembling as she did so, and swallowed back the complete shock.

As she continued to stare forward in a daze, Margo poked her head from behind the seat and looked at Lucy with a very hopeful smile, finally breaking the AVL agent out of her imprisoning thoughts.

"So?" She interrogated. "Where is he? Is he okay? Is he coming back?"

"Um…" Lucy mumbled, looking down at her feet for a few seconds. Her mind was a still a million miles away, so all traces of logic and reason had vanished from her conscience. The short but extremely sour conversation was repeating itself over and over in her head, seeming to put emphasis on that final damned word…

 _Goodbye…_

"It…it was the wrong number…" She muttered quietly, trying to utilize every ounce of her AVL training, particularly the teachings of hiding your emotions and stopping people from identifying what you were feeling. "I…must've read the contact wrong…or something."

Margo's face dropped very quickly.

"Oh…but…if it was a wrong number, then why would it have come up with a-"

"I don't know, Margo!" Lucy interrupted, perhaps a little too sternly. She turned away from her eldest daughter and regained control of the steering wheel from Dru, trying with all her will to avoid a breakdown. "Just…go sit down for me, would you?"

"Um…okay." She replied, silently ushering for her sisters to follow her back to the table. Jack and Dru gave Lucy a perplexed look, as she stared dead forward in almost traumatized fashion. After a moment, the teenager looked at Dru and shrugged, before walking back to the bathroom door to check on Vector. As he did so, Dru turned back to his sister-in-law, giving her a deep questioning look.

"Ees…everytheeng okay, Lucy?"

"Yep, yep, everything's…everything's fine, Dru." She responded hurriedly, her eyes not moving in the slightest. "Just…y'know, a little worried about Gru, that's all."

"Oh…" Dru replied, seeming convinced despite the very clear distress in her voice. To him, it did sound like a reasonable explanation, since he was having very similar worries about his brother. "Well, eef eet helps, I'm sure he's okay. As yoo said earlier, everytheeng ees goeeng to be fine."

He was right. She had said that. But, looking back on that conversation in the motel room, what Dru had said just before turned out to be a lot more accurate…

' _Eet's like dis whole director theeng has…completely changed heem!_ '

Lucy felt the almost painful sting of tears at the back of her eyes.

"Yeah…" She muttered wretchedly. "You're right…"

* * *

 _Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it._

 _Honestly, out of all the chapters I've done for this story so far, this one was probably the most enjoyable one for me to write. I don't know if you would agree, but I felt like all the fluff was getting incredibly oversaturated. It seemed like every chapter was pretty much the same thing, so it really needed a shakeup._

 _Also, looking back, I realize now that I was a little brief at the end of the last chapter. When I said that I'd changed the whole plot, I just meant that I'd removed a few sub-plots that were originally going to be included, and that I'd trimmed out a lot of the fluff chapters (I'd originally planned to have nine chapters following the family on the road trip, but there's only so much you can do before the writer's block starts hitting you very hard). The main storyline and the themes are all still the same._

 _Hopefully, from this point, the updates will be less infrequent. No promises, since I've got a whole lot of real life stuff to do, but I'll try and write these chapters in any free time I get._

 _Also, I haven't forgotten about The Outbreak. It will eventually get an update, but since I've really enjoyed writing the last two chapters of this story, I'll probably focus on this one a little bit more for the upcoming weeks._

 _Any reviews are appreciated. Will return soon._


	8. Siding With The Enemy

_Aaaaannndddd, I took another two months to release a chapter. And after all those promises about updating more frequently..._

 _I guess I gotta apologize again. I think this whole 'saying-sorry-for-taking-so-long' thing is becoming a running joke at this point._

 _This time, however, I do have a valid excuse. College started this September, and since I'm doing a new course with all this new stuff that I gotta learn, finding the time to write fics has been extremely difficult. What with that and the new twenty-one pilots album (which is amazing btw)._

 _But recently, I've been dedicating the mornings before I leave for college to writing portions of this story, so that means that I will probably get a new chapter out every two to three weeks. But, knowing me…no promises._

 _Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter! I do appreciate it! Hope this was worth the wait :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Eight:  
** _ **Siding With The Enemy**_

Nodding graciously at his associate, Perkins shut off the phone and moved it away from the supercomputer's speakers with a wide smile. He turned to face his hostage with a viciously malicious glare, and in return, the captured AVL agent was giving him one of absolute rage.

"So then, Gru…" He spoke, strutting back over to him leisurely. "Now that your wife and children completely _hate_ you, you're free to return to the occupation that I know you love so dearly. Tell me, how does it feel to be finally released from the shackles of boredom and monotony?"

"Just great…" Gru murmured lowly. "Dis ees not goeeng to work, Perkins."

"Gru, come on, don't be cute. It already has worked. Whether you like it or not, that life that you so foolishly chose before is officially over. You're _mine_ now…"

Gru couldn't ignore the disgusting sense of complete terror trickle down his spine. The gravity of this situation was finally starting to sink in. He had no weapons on him, so any possible way of escaping the chair had been thrown out the window. His family believed that he hated them, so they weren't coming to save him. The AVL would be none-the-wiser to his kidnapping, so he wasn't going to be rescued by them.

If all methods within his power were completely useless, then there was only one tactic left in the book…

He had to play along.

Now, as much as he hated him with every grain of his being, he knew that Perkins was very far from stupid. If he suddenly started going along with everything he said, then he knew he'd become suspicious. He still had to voice his discontent, but at the same time, go along with his orders as if he were completely out of ideas…

Well, he _was_ completely out of ideas, so that part shouldn't be too difficult…

"Yoo know, Perkins…" Gru spoke, lowering his head a little with a look of complete indifference. "I have to admire your efforts. Dis situation really looks inescapable…"

Perkins narrowed his eyes a little in confusion.

"Pity dose efforts will be for notheeng."

" _What_?" The large man questioned, looking at his hostage with a much more venomous glare.

"Come on, Perkins, do yoo seriously theenk dis ees goeeng to work?" Gru sneered with a smirk. "I have been een situations dat were _much_ more dangerous dan dis. I have had de fate of de whole world balanced on my shoulders, and I fixed everytheeng weethout even breakeeng a sweat. Yoo gotta understand, I _will_ win. No matter what yoo do, no matter what yoo say, I _will_ beat yoo."

Perkins frowned and approached Gru slowly, moving right up close and staring dead into the director's eyes.

"Do you forget who I am, Gru?" He muttered lowly. Gru's mocking smirk was growing larger as the seconds passed. "I am the man who runs the bank of evil! Do you know the kind of things I had to do to get up to that position? I mean, I crushed ants like you in my sleep."

"Sure, yoo deed. I'm not doubteeng dat…" Gru replied nonchalantly. "But…eventually, dose ants will find a way to fight back…and I do not theenk yoo will see eet comeeng when dey do."

"Look, I…you are…this is…!" Perkins stuttered, his cheeks turning a dark shade of red. Tired of his frustratingly wicked smile, the large man sighed and turned away, all while binding his fists together and avoiding the urge to just kill Gru right there. "God, now I remember why I _hated_ you so much!"

Gru leered evilly. Phase one of 'playing along' was complete…

* * *

Lucy sat silently at the kitchen table, still staring forward with a blank gaze. She hadn't been able to look anywhere else on the entire ride home, since that whole over-the-phone conversation with Gru was still reverberating around her head, no matter how desperately hard she tried to forget it. How could she ever forget it? There wasn't a chance in hell that Gru's harsh words or his hateful tone of voice would ever leave her head.

She hadn't told anybody yet. Right now, she just couldn't. Could she _ever_ repeat the words that he'd used? This day will probably end up haunting her until the end of time. If she ever found a way to push past it and comfortably talk about what happened, then she would consider that a miracle.

What about the girls as well? What did she tell them? Did she say that their father simply didn't love them enough to stay here?

That very thought made her stomach spin like a rollercoaster…

She could tell that Dru was giving her occasional dubious looks on the ride home, but in order to avoid breaking down while she was driving, she was pretty much forced to ignore him and try with all her will to pretend like nothing was wrong.

She even sent the girls straight to bed when they got in, even though she knew that they probably wouldn't fall asleep while their dad was missing. She still did it anyway, since if Margo was downstairs right now, Lucy probably would've spilled every detail by now.

That girl can read expressions like a book…

"Okay, so, Vector's ready for questioning…" Jack announced, as he and Dru walked into the kitchen. Lucy didn't even offer them a glance. "He's strapped against a chair in the lab. Whenever you're ready, we can go downstairs and interrogate the crap outta that guy."

"Mm-hmm…" Lucy mumbled quietly in response.

"Uhh, and…I've…I've told Dr. Nefario everytheeng." Dru added, desperately trying to grab a coherent response from the AVL agent. "He's setteeng up de phone signal scanner…uh… _thingy_ as we speak. We should be able to find Gru een no time."

"Great…"

Jack and Dru turned to each other with a concerned look, the both of them worried about Lucy's uncharacteristic nonchalant attitude. It was especially questionable considering that they just gave her the news that they'd been waiting for all evening. Sighing, Dru strutted over and sat down directly opposite to his sister-in-law, where he leaned over the table and gave her a look of deep uneasiness.

"Lucy, what ees wrong?" She still refused to offer any eye-contact. "Eet ees totally unlike yoo to be so…so…so _quiet_!"

Lucy dropped her head even lower, still refusing to respond. Huffing solemnly, Dru reached out and cupped her hands in his, speaking with a voice as soft as a cloud.

"Look, I get dat yoo're worried about heem. I mean, we're _all_ worried about heem. But…we both know dat Gru always finds a way out." He reassured. Lucy's lip began trembling. "All we have to do ees go downstairs, use dat scanner, find where he ees, and den rescue heem. We've done eet dozens of times before, and we can easily do eet again. Everytheeng _always_ works out een de end!"

"Not…not this time, Dru…" Lucy mumbled timorously, raising her head a little to look at the blonde with tears in her eyes. She was so lost in panicked thought, that she didn't even register Dru's expression completely falling at the sight of her crying. "It's…it's over…"

"Wh…what are yoo-"

"I…Gru…he…" Every time that Lucy tried to let the words escape her voice box, her throat closed and her brain practically screamed. Confessing what Gru said over the phone was proving to be as difficult as processing them in the first place. Seconds of silence passed, and as they did so, Dru's frantic expression ascended that little bit higher.

"What, Lucy!? What is it?"

"Gru's…Gru's not coming back…"

"What do you mean? Of course, he will!" Jack exclaimed, dashing over to sit beside Dru. "Like Dru said, all we have to do is go downstairs and-"

"HE'S DIVORCING ME, OKAY!" Lucy screamed. "HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE WITH US ANYMORE! HE WANTS TO BE SOME... _VILLAIN_ AGAIN!"

A very long and uncomfortable silence followed. All Jack and Dru could do, was stare at her in disbelief. That couldn't be true. That surely just...wasn't true. Right?

"What?"

Unable to hold it in any longer, Lucy's head immediately fell into the table, and right after, the flood of tears burst out like a tsunami. Frightened, Dru quickly shuffled across the booth sofa and put his arm around her, trying his absolute best to comfort away the tears.

"Gru's… _divorcing_ you?" He spoke quietly, glancing at Jack in shock. The teenager didn't make eye contact. Instead, he was staring off into the distance with a blank gaze, as if this news had shut off his entire brain. "But…how do yoo know?"

"It…it…it wasn't a…a wrong number…" Lucy chocked, her rapid breaths interrupting her sentence periodically. "He…he called…and said that…that he wanted to be a villain again. And…and that we…we were making his life…a nightmare. And…and that he's… _DIVORCING ME_!"

Another huge cry escaped her as she let out the last two words. In an effort to steal away the bad feelings, Dru cradled her closer, trying super hard to be as soothing as possible. But, no matter how hard he tried, he was finding the whole comforting thing to be extremely difficult. He was already inexperienced with dealing with emotional or hysterical people, but with Lucy seemingly long past the point of consolable, this was a completely new uncomfortable territory.

The three sat in complete silence, bar for Lucy's wailing, for a good twenty seconds. As that time passed by, Dru felt the nerve inside his chest rise higher and higher, making his heart beat faster with it. He had to say something, but _what_? He couldn't think of anything. Usually, something really silly or completely unhelpful would pop in his head, but not even his most stupid of comments were coming to mind.

Thankfully, at this point, a concerned Margo and Edith popped their heads through the kitchen doorway, giving Dru an opportunity to steal away the uncomfortable silence behind the crying.

"Gurls!? Wh…what are yoo doeeng out of bed?"

"We…couldn't sleep," Edith replied, not taking her very troubled eyes away from Lucy. It didn't even look like the mother of three was registering her daughter's presence in the room. "And…we heard yelling."

"Mom? Why are you crying?" Margo questioned, obviously looking just as concerned as her little sister. Quickly turning her head to Dru and Jack, a very adult sense of responsibility washed over her expression, something that caught Dru a little off-guard. "What's happened?"

"N-nothing…everytheeng ees…uh…she ees just…we just got a leetle…um…"

Upon realizing that his stuttering was just worrying the two girls even more, the blonde turned to Jack, who still seemed incredibly distracted, and motioned his head with a distressed look. Taking a few seconds to understand the signal, the teen gave Lucy one last worried look, as if he was pleading her to exclaim that this was all just an unfunny joke, before standing up from the table and approaching the girls.

"Come on, you two. Let's get you back to bed."

"But we wanna know what's-"

"Now…" Jack interrupted through gritted teeth, giving them an unexpected demanding look. It was very uncharacteristic of him to be so stern with them. Jack was always the one who was on their side. He never usually told them what to do or bossed them around at all.

That was always Gru's job…

Silently, Margo and Edith gradually turned and followed their brother back into the hallway, but not before giving Lucy another worried glance across the room. She was still seemingly completely oblivious to their presence. She was just too busy burying her head further into Dru's shoulder…

"Jack? What's going on?" Margo asked, as the three began climbing the stairs back to their bedroom.

"Is mom okay?"

"Of...of course. She's fine, Edith." Jack replied soothingly. The two very doubtful looks he received came at him so quickly, that he was almost impressed. "Okay, look, she's just really…y'know, worried about your father. He has been gone for a really long time now…"

Margo came to a complete stop, and immediately after, so did Jack and Edith.

"Jack, you're really bad at lying, you know that…" She said, frowning and crossing her arms. "I can tell that _something's_ happened! I'm not stupid!"

"Well, maybe for this _one time_ , you could pretend to be!" Jack exclaimed, responding to her frown with an even larger one. "Margo, when you get older, you'll eventually realize that not _every single thing_ is under your control! Sometimes, you've just gotta accept what you're told and be quiet! Now, _stop_ trying to interfere and solve every single little problem, and just _go to bed_!"

For a few seconds, all Margo did was just stand there and stare at him darkly, hoping that she could use her frown to make him spill all the answers. But after a little while, when she realized that she seemingly wasn't getting anywhere, the twelve-year-old huffed and stormed off, making her way for her bedroom.

Once she was gone, Jack sighed and ran a hand down his face, having to forcefully ignore the guilt in his chest. It was proving to be a difficult task, but considering that he'd been ignoring it almost all day now, he was starting to get pretty accustomed to it.

"You know she's just gonna keep bugging you until she finds out right?" Edith said. Jack huffed.

"Yeah, I know, but…hopefully it won't be _me_ who ends up telling her."

A few seconds of uncomfortable silence followed. Edith was a little less curious than Margo in these kinds of situations, being the type of person who would rather prolong the bad news instead of finding out straight away, but simply knowing that _something_ bad had happened was enough to upset her in the same way.

"So, it's… _really_ bad news, huh?" She asked, staring up at Jack with a very apprehensive look. The teen could only withstand a second of looking at her before the pain practically forced him to turn away.

"Look, Edith…" He spoke, sighing a little as he kneeled down to her level. "Everything's going to be fine. You know we always find a way out when something bad happens. That's just what we do!"

When the look on her face was still not improving, the teen dropped his head a little and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, giving her one of the most calming and reassuring looks he could produce.

"Edith, I swear on my _life_ , with all of my heart, that I will get Gru back…I _promise_ you."

It wasn't much, but finally, Edith's frightened expression seemed to dissipate a fraction, which Jack took as some sort of small victory. The ten-year-old reached out and wrapped her arms around her brother tight for a few seconds, before smiling at him a little and running off.

Jack watched her with a big warm smile on his face, but once she'd disappeared into her room, the reminder of what was happening hit him like a wrecking ball.

Gru was divorcing Lucy, and it was _his_ fault. The girls were going to be without a father, and it was _his_ fault. Everything in their lives was about to be flipped upside down, and it was _HIS_ fault.

He had to find some way to rectify this. Some way that he could bring everything back to how it used to be.

But how?

* * *

Gru felt the cold air on his skin. He felt the dark, embroiling sense of fear trickle down his spine. It was difficult to ignore. It was like a ghost that was creeping around him, whispering words in his ear that he couldn't perceive. Even the fact that he was registering its existence was confusing him, considering that he couldn't even hear it.

He kept his eyes firmly closed, since the thought of opening them created a pit of terror in his stomach. What if he was trapped deep inside a dark mineshaft? Or what if he was floating around the depths of space, forever alone? Either of those could be true, how would he ever know? His memories had seemingly vanished out of thin air, so pondering how he even got into this predicament was practically impossible.

"Hello again, Felonious."

When that voice, that _familiar_ voice, hit his eardrums, his eyes couldn't help but jerk open out of fear. Not just out of fear though, but also out of curiosity. He'd been questioning himself about this _thing_ ever since he'd first laid eyes upon it, and the more he got to converse with it, the more he could hopefully understand.

Or, maybe, the more he got to converse with it, the more questions he would be forced to leave unanswered.

"I do say, with all this time we're spending together, Felonious…" The demon started, his bloodied smile growing viciously wider. "It's like we're back in the good old days, am I right?"

The first thing he noticed once his eyes were open, was the location he was in. Or maybe, the _lack of_ a location that he was in. There was nothing surrounding him other than black, empty space. There wasn't even a floor beneath his feet, just…a never-ending void.

"I do not…I do not understand…" Gru spoke, pausing mid-sentence to gasp for breath. He didn't know why he was out of breath, he just… _was_ , for some reason. "What are yoo? How do yoo know my name? What are de _good old days_? Please…please, I beg yoo…tell me what ees happeeneeng…"

"Oh, I'll tell you what's happening, Felonious." It replied, cocking its head sideways in possibly the creepiest way Gru had ever seen. "You're finally getting the chance that I've been waiting for since you deserted me! Your family is gone, they absolutely hate you, and you're trapped with a man who wants you to rejoin the thing we enjoyed so much together! Do not let this opportunity slip between your fingers. I've seen you do it before…with that wife and those girls…so do _not_ let it happen again."

"I can't…eet ees not what I want…" Gru replied, dropping his head and taking in multiple breaths. "I want…to keep my family happy. I want…to save de world when it's in danger. I want…to be a good guy."

The demon cackled.

"You can lie to the others, Felonious, but you cannot lie to me." It said, floating towards him slowly. "I am all-knowing. I _feed_ on the truth. And when you give me _lies_ , bitter _disgusting_ lies, I spit them out and punish those who fed them to me in the first place."

Gru lifted his head and gave the demon a pleading look, as it continued to approach him with a viciously terrifying look. When it finally got over to him, the horribly evil looking thing knelt down and stared into his eyes, almost frightening Gru to the point of unconsciousness.

"Don't make me punish you. Don't make me return to cause you all that pain again, the same way I returned two days ago."

"What? What are yoo…talkeeng about?" Gru questioned, choking on his own saliva. "I…I swear…I am not lyeeng. I am…perfectly happy weeth my life."

With unimaginable strength, the demon lifted Gru into the air by his throat and began strangling him, making the whole empty world vibrate and shudder just like an earthquake. He could feel a volcano of pure pain and terror consume him. It was a feeling compared to that of nothing he'd ever felt before. It was a lot more than just frightening.

It was practically crippling...

"Your daughter saved you the first time. That brute saved you the last time." It hissed, pulling the terrified man closer to its 'face'. "Who will save you _this_ time?"

Gru closed his eyes and prepared to face his painful death, but just as he did so, another voice called loudly. A voice that sounded a lot more vivid and clear. It kept on saying something but, it was so quiet, that he could barely understand. Finally, when the voice seemingly got frustrated and started yelling, what it was saying became a lot more clear.

"GRU!"

* * *

"GRU!"

As Perkins shook him awake, Gru opened his eyes at speed and jerked forward, his breaths rolling out as fast as jet planes. Perkins was forced to take a step back to avoid being headbutted, something he almost didn't manage in time. He gave his captive a very strong aggressive look when he awoke fully, as he continued to sit there gasping for breath.

"Nice try with the headbutt there, Gru…" He muttered dangerously. "But you certainly underestimated my reaction speed."

"What…what happened?" Gru questioned quietly, putting his head down. Before he graced him with a response, Perkins simply handed him a very odd look.

"What do you mean 'what happened'? You were talking in your sleep, so I woke you up." He responded. "You were breathing pretty heavy too. Were you having a nightmare about that boring family that you almost spent the rest of your pathetic life with?"

"I don't…I don't even know what dat was." Gru said, closing his eyes and putting his head down. "Eet felt…like more dan just a…a nightmare. Eet was like…I…I was…een another _world_."

Now completely unsure on how to respond, Perkins simply stood there giving him a very befuddled look, totally at a loss for words. Finally, after a few seconds of confused gawking, the large man shook his head and walked away.

"You are a very strange man, Felonious Gru." He stated, as he approached Fullbyte, who was focused solely on pressing buttons on his huge supercomputer. "I just thought you should know that."

"Has the idiot finally shut up?" Fullbyte asked, not taking his eyes away from the twelve monitors in front of him.

"Not completely, but the gibberish yelling should subside now," Perkins replied, slumping down into the seat beside his associate. "Anyway, how's the mapping going on?"

"Fittingly well, I suppose." The elderly man answered, as he reached down and pulled an indeterminable device from inside his desk drawer. "I've located all the entrances and points of weakness, but I'm still mapping out all the surveillance cameras. There are a lot of them, by the way. It will take a lot of planning and thorough configuration before you should even think about breaching the perimeter."

"I don't think that is of too much concern." Perkins stated. "I mean, if everything goes wrong and the cameras pick up sight, it won't be _us_ who'll be facing the consequences."

"Yes, but…doesn't that go against the final objective. I mean, if we're not going to take proper consideration of the cameras, then this whole kidnapping ordeal was entirely pointless."

"Okay, okay, fair point. Once you map them all out, we can start thinking of a good plan." Perkins submitted. Pulling a look of determination onto his face, the large man slowly spun his chair around and cast a look on Gru, who was still attempting to recapture his breath. "I guess if I want my revenge to be cruel, crueler than any other evil scheme ever conducted, then I guess we need to keep him safe…for now..."

* * *

Jack sighed as he entered the small interrogation room in the lab. It wasn't too extravagant, just a tiny room with a small table and chair, but it did the job sufficiently. He didn't even know the lab had an interrogation room until today, but considering that Gru used to be a villain, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Well, in light of recent news, 'used to be' probably isn't the correct phrase.

With an air of sorrow, he spun his head and cast a look at the tied-up Vector, who was staring dead at the teenager with a toxic glare. Jack didn't even have the optimism to smirk humorously at his pathetic intimidation methods.

"Don't even bother questioning me!" Vector snarled. "I don't care if you threaten me, or hurt me, or kill me, I am not going to-"

"I was wrong." Jack interrupted drearily, turning away a little. Vector gave him an odd look.

"What?"

"Turns out that Gru's disappearance is on his own back." The teen explained, his voice abnormally dull. "I guess…there isn't any need to question you…"

"Oh…okay then." Vector replied, dropping his head momentarily. He really wasn't expecting that response. Honestly, for the past hour, he had been mentally preparing himself for whatever verbal and physical abuse he was sure to receive. It looked like that preparation was all for nothing. Musing in thought for a few seconds, the villain raised his head with a mocking smile, and spoke with a triumphant tone. "So, I guess it's time to let me go, huh? Shame, since I was really looking forward to being interrogated."

Frowning darkly, Jack strutted up to his captive aggressively and loomed over him with a look of pure rage, frightening the smile right off the villain's face.

"Remember that I can still _easily_ torture and kill you in the most painful way imaginable, so, if I was you, I'd probably refrain from sarcastic comments."

Vector swallowed hard. That form of intimidation reminded him a lot of his father. It had something to do with the way that he just suddenly transformed into something almost demonic within a fraction of a second…

"Oh, uh…did…did I sound sarcastic to you? I…I apologize. I didn't mean for it to…come across that way." He replied timidly. "What I…meant to say was…how about we stay and have a nice chat for a little while? I mean, I don't even know your name."

Unsure of his next move, Jack narrowed his eyes at him for a few seconds, weighing up his options. His choice between killing him or talking with him seemed pretty obvious, but once he realized the only other thing he could do in the house was sit upstairs and feel guilty, he sighed and slumped down on the chair.

"It's Jack. Jack Gru."

"Jack _Gru_ , huh? So…you're adopted, I'm guessing."

"You could say that." Jack said, shrugging. God, how he wished he could reverse time. Then, this whole divorce issue wouldn't even exist. "Not formally adopted. Not even _legally_ adopted. I'm…I'm actually Edith's biological brother."

"Really? That brat has a brother, huh? Interesting." Vector responded, his smirk slowly re-emerging again. However, Jack's quick threatening look swiftly destroyed that smirk before it could fully develop. "Uh…of course, I meant brat in a good way."

"Mm-hmm, sure you did." The teen replied cynically, turning his eyes back to the ceiling.

"So, how come you weren't around when she got adopted? Did you like…get separated or something?"

"Yeah, look…it's a really long story, I can't be bothered to go through it all." Jack replied, soothing his stressed-out temple. "Just know that I made a mistake, ended up working for the IVB, they tried to hurt her, I wouldn't let them, Gru saved my life, and now I'm here."

"Oh…I see." Vector responded, giving him a look of total confusion. "That…makes sense."

Another complete silence followed, the both of them unsure of what this 'nice chat' would even involve. Looking at the current situation they were both in, there really wasn't anything nice going on that could be discussed. Eventually, Jack huffed a little and asked him the first question that sprung to mind, just to kill the uncomfortable silence.

"So, what were you doing by that motel earli-?"

"Nothing." Vector retorted quickly, staring at the teen dead in the eyes. Caught a little off guard, Jack cocked his head and stared back at him with a dubious look, questioning him with his intense gaze. Sighing in defeat, the villain dropped his head and frowned, ceasing eye-contact with him. "Ugh, fine. My dad's pressuring me to get back into villainy, so…I was out there trying to find something evil to do."

"Hmm…okay," Jack mumbled, turning away a little in thought. "Wait, get _back_ into villainy? So…you're a good guy now?"

"Pfft, no." Vector snorted aggressively. "Do I look like a pansy to you?"

Staying silent, Jack spent a few seconds looking his thin, scrawny figure up and down, before finally shaking his head and grinning slightly.

"No comment…"

Vector rolled his eyes and turned his head away, trying to find something in the room to stare at darkly. There was absolutely nothing except for undecorated walls colored in a dull grey. Although, it was a weird grey, as if some parts of the wall were less grey than others.

Eventually, he realized that the room was in fact painted white, and all that grey was just a thick layer of dust and dirt…

"So, if you aren't a good guy, then…what are you?" Jack asked, leaning back and getting comfortable in his horribly uncomfortable chair.

"Oh, well…I guess I'm…uhhh…" Vector mused, looking down at the floor in thought. It was a good question. What even was he? Possibly, he could be considered a bad guy, but with the lack of evil deeds and the fact that he was absolutely sick and tired of the whole villain stuff, that term just didn't sound right. "I…I don't know. I guess I'm just…a mix."

"A mix?"

"Yeah…like, I don't care about destroying the world, but…I also don't care about saving it. I guess you could say I'm just… _neutral_." Vector stated, shrugging. Jack dropped his head a little in thought. He'd never heard somebody refer to themselves as 'neutral' before. Up to this point, he thought everyone in the world was either bad or good. He really had no clue what to think. "Ugh…imagine if my father had heard me say that, he'd be so…"

Vector cut himself off and huffed, turning away from the young adult sorrowfully.

"He'd be so… _what_?"

"Don't worry about it, you wouldn't understand." Vector responded. "I mean, what would you know about dad issues?"

Jack's expression dropped in the same fashion that Vector's had, as he too turned away a little sadly.

"Well, uh…you'd be surprised."

"What? What do you mean?"

"My, um… _biological_ dad wasn't the best." Jack answered, leaning forward again to rest his elbows on his knees. "He treated me like dirt for the first ten years of my life, and once he and his witch of a wife got bored of their jobs, he ditched me and Edith and left us to rot in orphanages. It wouldn't be a surprise if he specifically ensured that me and her were put in separate ones…"

"Woah…" Vector gawked, looking at the teenager in morbid surprise. "Your dad sounded pretty-"

"Evil?" Jack questioned, still not making eye contact with the villain. "Well, considering that last month he finally decided to return to try and steal Edith away and take her off to some random country, while also trying to destroy the entire US with nukes, then yeah, I'd say he is pretty evil."

"Woah, woah, slow down." Vector replied quickly, shaking his head. "Destroy the whole US? Somebody tried to destroy the whole _country_ and I didn't know about it?"

"Nobody does. The AVL and the government is keeping the whole ordeal a secret. The president even got killed apparently…"

"Woah, seriously? How hasn't anyone noticed that the president's missing?"

"Well, I heard it was something to do with cloning or something. I dunno, who even cares anyway?"

A few seconds of silence passed after that, with Vector simply taking some time to process what the hell he was even told. But, eventually, when he accepted the fact that some guy almost destroyed the whole US without his knowledge, he put his head down a little and spoke.

"So…I guess you do know some stuff about dad issues."

Finally making eye-contact with him again, Jack looked back up at Vector with an almost lifeless look, as if that very confirmation hit him pretty hard.

"Unfortunately…" He replied, nodding. "But anyway, that's all in the past. He's dead and gone forever now, so…let's just move on."

"Whatever you say…" Vector responded, shrugging. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad really isn't any better. He only feigned his love for me when I was young, so that I would grow up and trust him. But now? Pfft…now he wouldn't even bat an eye-lid if he heard about my death."

"Well…if your dad doesn't care about you, then who rescued you from the moon?"

"Okay, fine…that was him. But he didn't do that because he cares about me! He only did that so that I would be alive to take over his stupid bank for him when he keels over. And that's not _me_ saying that, that was a direct quote from _him_!"

"Alright, well…what's wrong with taking over his bank?"

"It sucks! It takes in no money, the color scheme is boring, and I'd have to spend all day talking to stupid villains, who think they're so great and evil and unique, and decide whether or not to give them money. Do you even _understand_ how boring that is!?" Instead of responding, Jack looked at him as if he was some petulant little child whining about something insignificant. Vector took that as a cue to change the subject. "So, anyway, what's Gru like as a father? Because if it's anything like he was as a villain, it's a wonder you don't have even _more_ dad issues."

"Oh…well, he's actually…really, really good. Like…the _best_." Jack replied, smiling to himself. "He treats the girls like they're one of a kind. He reads them bedtime stories, he plays games with them, he kisses their owwies, he tells them he loves them. He does everything you'd ever want a father to do. Plus, he…he took _me_ in to his home, even though he didn't have to. And got me an awesome job, even though he didn't have to. And, most amazing of all, he took in my sister and gave her the life I never had at her age. I mean, honestly, I owe him my whole _life_!"

And yet, he said all those horrible things to him…

As a tsunami of guilt washed over him, Jack put his head down and stewed in his own thoughts for a moment. Was Gru really the type of husband to divorce his wife over the phone, over one silly argument? Was Gru really the type of father to abandon his daughters so suddenly, even though he'd gone through all that trouble to keep them safe and happy in the first place?

Was Gru really the type of person to just disappear, without even a goodbye?

' _Something isn't right here…'_ He thought to himself. It just didn't make any sense. The argument they had wasn't even that huge. Yeah, it was pretty bad, but not anything like the argument they had on the day they'd met. He literally threatened to kill him then, so there really wasn't any comparison.

Or…was he simply just telling himself that something wasn't right, and that Gru wasn't that type of person, just so he could subside the guilt and feel a lot better?

Or, was he just overthinking this…

No. Gru was an amazing dad and husband. This whole situation just doesn't fit…

Looking back up at Vector, who was looking at him with an expression of total befuddlement, probably because he was just sitting there thinking to himself for a good thirty or forty seconds, Jack rose from his chair and loomed over him, staring down into the villain's eyes with the most determined face he'd ever seen.

"Alright Vector, here's the deal. I don't care if you truly haven't had anything to do with my dad's disappearance, and I don't care how unethical this whole kidnapping thing is if you actually haven't. I will only untie those ropes and set you free if you promise to help me track my dad down."

"What? You…you want _me_ to help you save _Gru_ , the man who put me on the moon and almost destroyed my whole life?" Vector questioned dubiously. Jack simply nodded. The villain's first thought was to reject and insult him for even thinking of such a proposition, but when he remembered that he was indeed tied up against a chair in the depths of some insanely huge lab, without a prayer of escaping on his own, he realized that going along with what he wanted was probably the better decision. "Alright, well…I guess we have a deal. Just…untie me and I'll help you out."

However, instead of untying the ropes and setting him free like Vector thought he would do, Jack leaned in closer and stared dead into his eyes with a look that could _literally_ kill a man.

"And if you _dare_ even _think_ about hurting, or even touching, _any_ of my family…I will make you regret every breath and step you've ever taken. You got that?"

Vector had to take a good five or six seconds before he could nod in response, simply because his brain was too afraid to even register the world for a little while.

"Good." Jack said, transitioning back to a smile in an unexpectedly quick amount of time. Once he'd untied the ropes around his hands and set him free, Vector stood up and stretched his muscles, since they'd gone extremely tight with all that sitting down on terrible chairs, before nodding to Jack graciously.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Jack replied, retaining a slightly apprehensive look. "Now, if you'll follow me, I'll take you back upstairs. Explaining to the others why I've let you go is gonna be… _fun_ , to say the least."

Taking him out of the interrogation room and through the lab, Jack was getting pretty frustrated with the number of explanations he had to give to all the minions who expressed their concern about Vector. Yes, he _knew_ this was a very big risk, he really didn't need to be reminded every other second.

Vector himself was also getting a little intimidated with all the vicious looks he was receiving from the little yellow things. Even though they were all tiny and looked as harmless as children, he was still pretty sure they could give him some decently big injuries if they all ganged up on him.

"Fine, Dave! If you're right and he ends up causing trouble, I'll get you all a million bananas!" Jack exclaimed, holding the bridge of his nose with frustration, a lot like Gru would do when he had a stupid conversation with one of the minions. It must've just been a habit he subconsciously picked up, since he could never remember holding the bridge of his nose before he'd met Gru… "Now, if you don't mind, me and this scrawny little wimp have some business to take care of."

"Es dove Gru?" Mark asked, as he and around ten other minions surrounded Jack and Vector.

"Never mind where Gru is!" He responded, watching as more and more minions surrounded them, most likely because Gru's name was mentioned. "Look, could you just… _stop_ with the interrogating!? Don't you guys all have some like, jobs to do or something?"

"Nope. Abbiamo fatto tanan natong trabaho." Jerry responded with a wry smile, shrugging mockingly. However, in a case of instant karma, one of the minions fired an RPG that went flying right into several shelves of serums, vials, and equipment, sending a ton of liquid and debris all over the place. When all the minions turned to gawk, Jack took that as an opportunity to escape.

"Right, well, you do now." He exclaimed happily, before grabbing Vector's arm and dragging him away towards the elevator. "Come on, let's go before they accidentally kill us with a poisonous dart or something."

"Jeez, those things are annoying."

"Eh, they're not that bad once you get used to them." Jack replied, shrugging. However, looking down at the floor in thought, he very quickly came to a fault in his logic. "I'm…still not used to them…"

Just as the two were about to enter the elevator back to the house, Dr. Nefario turned the corner and noticed them, calling across the room just before they could leave.

"Jack! Could I have a word?"

"Can it wait? I'm...kinda busy, right now…"

"No. It cannot." Nefario stated demandingly, crossing his arms. "This is extremely urgent."

"Ugh, every single thing in the world with you is _urgent_." Jack mumbled under his breath. Right before he went off to have whatever pointless conversation Nefario wanted to partake in, Jack turned and gave Vector a very strong threatening look, catching the villain off guard somewhat. "Stay _right_ there…"

Once the young adult had gone across the room and started conversing with the elderly doctor, Vector turned his head and inspected the elevator. It was right there. If he took it upstairs, sneaked out of the house, and ran over to the bank, he could tell his father and have that kidnapping teenager and his whole family killed.

But, knowing his luck over the past few days, his plan probably wouldn't work. Either Jack would find him and kill him, or his father wouldn't care about his kidnapping and he'd be scolded for still not catching Gru.

Speaking about Gru, what actually happened to him? Jack claimed that his disappearance was 'on his own back', or in other words, he'd decided to run away. Considering how determined Gru was in getting those girls back when he kidnapped them, that certainly didn't sound right…

Well, who cares anyway? This wasn't his main concern right now. Obviously, getting out of this house and away from this crazy teen was his main concern. He knew he couldn't escape using the elevator, since again, luck just hadn't been on his side recently and the risk was too high, so what could he use to escape?

And then, as if fate itself was gunning for him, his cell phone began vibrating ferociously in his pocket, reminding him that he still had the device on him. Having to contain his excitement, the villain carefully reached into his pocket and fished it out, before spying the caller ID on screen.

It was his dad. Calling about Gru, no doubt. How did he traverse this conversation? Did he tell him that Gru had run away and that his tracking device was broke, or did he act like he was still searching? Both options seemed pointless against his father.

Also, what did he say about _this_ situation? Did he tell him he was kidnapped, did he act like he was fine? God, there were just too many options, and somehow, all of them seemed terrible.

Sighing quietly, Vector answered and put it up to his ear with some trepidation. He didn't know what he was going to say, nor how he was going to say it, but standing there staring at the screen as he tried to figure out the best option wasn't going to solve anything.

"Dad?" He whispered, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible, out of fear that Jack or one of the minions would hear him.

"Victor?" Perkins responded, clearly a little puzzled. "Why are you whispering? What's going on?"

"Look, I've been kidnapped by Gru's family, and one of his adopted teenage kids is acting pretty damn crazy." He explained. "I think he's gonna kill me, I really don't know. Do you think you could get someone to come save me?"

"You've been kidnapped, and you want me to come save you!?" Perkins exclaimed aggressively. "Are you really that simple-minded!?"

"What?"

"Now that you're in their house, this is the perfect opportunity for you to kidnap _them_." Perkins stated. "I've already got Gru, so all we need is his family, and then we're set to move forward."

"You…you've got Gru?" Vector responded sorrowfully. "You got somebody else to kidnap Gru?"

"Ugh, come on, Victor! You really thought I could put a single ounce of belief in you after you messed up the last time? You obviously don't have the skills!" Vector frowned darkly and balled his fists up, feeling the urge to crush the cell phone in his grip. "But…here's your chance to finally do something right in your life! If you can get me the family, then me and Fullbyte are ready to go through with the plan, and you would've actually helped out for once! So, there's your… _ounce of belief_."

"Wait… _the plan_? What plan?"

"Stop asking questions Victor and GET ME THAT _FAMILY_!" Perkins exclaimed deafeningly, making Vector inch the phone away to avoid damage to his ears. "And don't even THINK about disappointing me again, which you no doubt will do anyway!"

Without saying goodbye, or even wishing him good luck, Perkins hung up. For a moment, all Vector did was stare at the phone, unsure on what emotion he was feeling. Was it sadness? Was it anger? Was it determination? Maybe, it was all of the above.

But, though he may not know what he was feeling, he _did_ know what he had to do.

He had to kidnap the kidnappers…

"Nefario, for the _last_ time, we will have to use the phone signal scanner later!" Jack exclaimed, giving the old man a dark look of ire. "I currently have something very important to do!"

"It will only be operational for another half-hour before I have to reset it!" Nefario exclaimed. "It takes a very long time to reset the flipping thing, and I don't appreciate having to spend two hours pressing buttons while you sit upstairs reading comic books, or playing board games, or doing whatever it is you youngsters do nowadays!"

"Ugh, I'm done with this conversation now, old man!" Jack yelled, as he turned around and started walking away. "Just reset it, and we'll use it later!"

Scoffing, Nefario turned around and marched off towards the supercomputer room, mumbling insults and the occasional curse word under his breath. Jack walked back towards Vector and re-entered the elevator, before motioning for the young villain to follow him inside.

"Y'know, I doubt we'll be able to persuade Dru and Lucy that letting you go is a good idea," Jack said, as the doors closed. "But, I guess it's worth a shot."

"Yeah…" Vector replied, grinning a little. "I guess it is worth a shot…"

* * *

 _Again, sincerely hope you enjoyed. And again, I will try to be a little more consistent. It'll be difficult, but I definitely do not intend to abandon this story._

 _Any reviews are very much appreciated. See you soon…or maybe in another two months…I really don't know._


	9. Margo's Theory

_Alas, I have returned. And with a ten-thousand-word chapter as well! This was never meant to get this crazy long, in fact I originally thought it was going to be one of the shorter parts, but I just kept writing and writing and writing and...well, here we are._

 _As always, just want to give a quick thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. In fact, even thanks to those who are just reading along. It does mean a lot to see that there is some interest in this story and its characters. Makes me super happy :)_

 _Anywho, sincerely hope you enjoy. Let's go!_

* * *

 **Chapter Nine:**  
 _ **Margo's Theory**_

"No! No! _No_! Dis ees not a good idea!" Dru screeched, as he watched Jack and Vector from behind the armrest of the crocodile couch. He'd fearfully leaped behind there the moment that Vector stepped out of the lab elevator. Ever since then, he'd been shrieking on about how ridiculous and dangerous this was, so much so that his cheeks were beaming red from fatigue. "We cannot trust dis guy! What eef he does sometheeng evil? What eef he hurts me? What eef he hurts _de gurls_!?"

"Dru, for the fifth time…" Jack replied, frowning out of both frustration and extreme boredom. "I won't let him hurt any of us. Trust me, everything's going to be fine."

The eighteen-year-old cast a momentary look on Vector as he spoke, which the villain was expecting to be hostile. However, it seemed fairly indifferent, as if Jack was just hoping that he agreed. Vector was more than glad it wasn't a venomous one, since judging on his earlier encounters with the teen's facial expressions, he could pull one _hell_ of a dark look.

You could definitely tell that he was a former IVB agent, since that _look_ was only ever seen on those who underwent their intimidation training.

"But he's a villain! Yoo know we can't trust villains!"

"Alright, well, by that logic, it looks like we can't trust _you_." Jack refuted, pointing at his uncle accusingly. "I mean, since _you're_ also a villain, how do we know _you_ won't do something evil?"

"Because I'm een de family! I wouldn't want to hurt any of yoo guys! Dis _Vectro_ guy, on the other hand, he doesn't care eef we get hurt! _He'll_ probably be de one hurteeng us!" Dru exclaimed, his voice so high and screechy, that it was a wonder how all the glass in the room hadn't smashed. Raising his head over the armrest slightly, the blonde attempted to call for backup, while also making sure that Vector wasn't close enough to possibly cause him harm. "Lucy, help me out here!"

Lucy had been sat silently on the couch ever since Jack and Vector had resurfaced from the lab. Well, actually, according to Dru, Lucy hadn't said a single word since her divorce confession. It was really starting to worry the blonde, since not only was staying silent like this totally unlike her, but saying silent while a threat to her family was standing inside her house was borderline impossible.

At the mention of her name, Lucy lifted her head somewhat, but after a moment or two, quickly dropped it again. She had finally stopped crying, but that absolutely devastated look on her face hadn't subsided at all yet. Both with that expression and the gleam of dried up tear streams on her cheeks, she looked as helpless and distraught as a lost child.

Even though he did feel infinitely sorry for her, and even though he completely understood that she was never going to get over the divorce in a few hours, Dru couldn't help but get just a tad frustrated by her lack of assistance.

"Look, Dru, I don't wanna get Vector involved either…" Jack started, regathering his uncle's attention. "But you gotta realize that we really don't have much of a choice. Gru's ditched us and gone completely AWOL, and right now, we need every ounce of help we can get in finding him. Sitting here arguing about it is just wasting time."

Peeking his head up again, Dru stared Vector down fearfully for a few seconds, analyzing every inch of this situation. It was a huge risk to put Vector anywhere near the girls, that was glaringly obvious. Vector purposely getting in the way and trying to sabotage the rescue plan was also a clear issue. And also, if they did manage to find Gru again, there was a huge risk that Vector could take that chance to get his revenge and kill him on the spot.

But, at the same time, Vector _had_ been stripped of all his weapons when they kidnapped him, so him actually finding a way to harm the girls was practically impossible, especially with Dru, Lucy, and Jack keeping a very close eye on him. He also wouldn't see many positives in getting in the way either, since that would only prolong the time he was stuck being abducted.

And also, with every second that Dru stood there thinking about this, was another second that Gru was still missing...

"Okay, fine…I guess yoo have a point." Dru replied, as he slowly stood up from behind the armrest. Both Jack and Vector smiled a little as he did so. "We really _do_ need all de help we can get. I mean, Lucy ees too distraught to even speak right now, let alone help weeth trackeeng down Gru."

"Thank you…" Jack replied, sighing a little out of relief. "All we gotta do now, is wait for Nefario to reset the signal scanner, track Gru down, and then get him to come back home."

"Pfft…well, dat ees a lot easier said dan done! How een de hell are we gonna persuade Gru to come back home?"

"Well...maybe we can just…uhhh…" Jack started, putting his head down as he racked his mind for ideas. He really hadn't thought that far yet. He was far too busy persuading people about Vector to think of a well thought out plan. "We can…just say… _please_."

Instead of responding, Dru loudly huffed, giving Jack a hugely deep look of doubt.

"Okay, fine! I don't know how! We'll just have to think of something…"

"Well, how about you pretend that those girls are in danger or something?" Vector cut in. "I mean, when I kidnapped them last year, Gru looked like he was ready to rip my head off in order to save them. Might be worth a shot to bring him back home."

For a few seconds, all Jack and Dru could do was stare at him in disbelief. Was he the one to just say that? When they said about Vector helping out in saving Gru, they really didn't think he would actually be of significant assistance, that is if he even assisted at all.

"That…that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea…" Jack marveled, turning away a little. Maybe his theory about Vector was correct. Maybe bringing him upstairs was actually a good idea...

"Nice job, Vectro." Dru replied, smiling a fraction.

"Uh...it's...it's Vic-"

"Right, that's step one complete!" Jack interrupted loudly. "Now all we gotta do, is figure out where Gru is, how we can put the girls in fake danger, how we can make it seem like it's real without actually hurting them, and finally, if we manage to get him back, how we stop him from getting stressed and disappearing again..."

"Okay, so...not dat much den..." Dru commented sarcastically, biting his upper lip nervously. The very chance that this plan would come to fruition was practically a far cry, but since they were bereft of other ideas, this was the best chance they had at saving the family. "Anyway, I theenk we should probably get some sleep before we start planneeng anytheeng. Otherwise, I doubt we're gonna be able to theenk straight."

"Good idea." Jack grabbed Vector by the arm, startling him somewhat, and began dragging him softly towards the living room door. "Come on, you can sleep on the floor in my room. That way I can keep an eye on you."

Just as the three were about to disappear into the hallway and make their way upstairs, the obvious presence of another unmoving person forced them to turn back. It didn't even look like Lucy was perceiving the world around her at all. It seemed like she was trapped firmly inside her own head.

"Uh, Lucy...we're...we're goeeng to bed." Dru spoke, hoping to gather her attention. Again, Lucy lifted her head a little, but it only took a second for her to drop it again sorrowfully. Sighing, Dru moved back over to the crocodile couch and sat back down beside her, looking into her cloudy eyes with a saddened expression.

"Come on, Lucy, yoo need to get yourself together." No response. In fact, she didn't even blink. Dru had no idea how he was going to get through to her, but just like the plan to get Gru back, giving it a shot was all he could really do. "I...I totally understand dat Gru divorceeng yoo was pretty unexpected... _really_ unexpected. But yoo're not de only one who's upset by dis. I mean, I'm _absolutely terrified_ right now. I could lose my _brother_ , and de gurls could lose deir _dad_..."

Lucy's pupils moved slightly in his direction, but only for a fraction of a second. Even though it could barely be called a movement, Dru accepted this as some form of progress.

"And eef yoo keep sitteeng here mopeeng about eet, den how are we goeeng to get heem back, huh? _Please_ , Lucy...I really need yoo right now. _We all_ really need yoo right now..."

Finally, Lucy turned her head completely to face him, a few fresh tears surfacing in her eyes. However, in order to hold onto her composure, the AVL agent blinked them away and nodded, attempting to smile. It was very difficult to do, and it came off as completely fake, but she still managed to release a tiny one, which made Dru's whole face light up.

"Dere we are..." He spoke soothingly, as he slowly stood from the couch. "Now...let's go get some sleep."

"Yeah..." Lucy replied in a suddenly upbeat voice, joining Dru in standing up from the couch. "Let's..."

Somewhat impressed, Jack smiled and gave Dru an approving nod, before pulling at Vector's sleeve again and motioning for him to follow him out of the room. Dru returned to his underground bedroom, while Lucy, Vector, and Jack climbed up the stairs, one of them obviously unwilling to do so.

Way too absorbed by carefully directing Vector into his room, the teenager never noticed the bespectacled twelve-year-old peeking at him through the slightly opened bedroom door...

"Oh my god...Vector's escaped!" Margo announced, turning to her wide-awake sisters with a frightened look.

"What!?" Edith exclaimed, sitting up in her bed at speed.

"Is he coming to get us!?" Agnes questioned loudly, as she griped her unicorn toy tightly out of fear.

"No, he's...he's in Jack's bedroom." Margo replied, peeking out through the door crack again, to double-check on Agnes's theory. "He just put him in there..."

"Oh, well, it's fine then..." Edith replied, lying back down again and closing her eyes, desperately attempting to fall asleep, something she'd been really struggling with since returning. It was understandable of course, what with Gru and everything, but it was still extremely frustrating for her.

"What do you mean ' _it's fine_ '?" Margo questioned angrily. "Vector is _literally_ across the hall from us! You do remember what he tried to do, right?"

"Pfft...obviously," Edith stated as-matter-of-factly, turning over in her bed to glare at her older sister. "But if Jack's got him, then we'll be fine."

Margo stared her little sister down for a second. Her faith in Jack was way too strong. Even though there were times where he had succeeded, he had also messed up _many_ times before in protecting people against threats. It just wasn't enough to keep the older girl calm.

"But what if Jack makes a mistake?" Margo questioned, starting to build herself up into a large panic. "What if Vector escapes? What if he hurts Jack? What if he's already hurt dad and that's why he was at the motel earlier?"

"Margo, _shut up_!" Edith snapped as she sat up again, startling the eldest sister a great deal. "What if Jack's made sure he can't escape? What if Jack stops him before he hurts anyone? What if Vector's actually done nothing to dad and that's why Jack let him out of the lab? Y'know, not every ' _what if_ ' is bad!"

Margo turned her head away in thought. She wasn't wrong. In fact, that was the exact same thing that Margo herself had said to Jack the night prior, when he was upset about everything that _could've_ gone wrong in his life. And now here she is, getting upset about things that _could_ go wrong. Maybe she should start listening to her own advice...

"I'm scared..." Agnes muttered suddenly and quietly, tightening her already monstrous grip on the unicorn, threatening to pierce the fabric.

"Me too." Edith spoke at the same volume level, sighing as she put her head down to stare at the floor. She was clearly ashamed of herself for being afraid, but considering that her father had now been missing for almost eight hours, she just couldn't help it.

Margo turned back to her sisters and felt a pang of both sadness and guilt. Standing there going over every negative outcome was obviously not helping this already pretty dire situation. In fact, she was making the situation even worse. With no other choice, Margo realized exactly what she had to do, the thing she _always_ used to do before Gru had adopted them...

She had to be the big sister.

Moving over to Agnes's bed, the twelve-year-old climbed up and sat beside her youngest sibling, who instantly jumped into her with a frightful cuddle. It didn't take long for Edith to follow suit and join them.

After a very long five minutes, both Edith and Agnes had fallen asleep into Margo's side, and with them holding onto her so tightly, it was only a short amount of time before the eldest sister joined them. But, right before she did, she looked out into the night sky behind the nearby window, and as the tranquility of the outside world sent her further into sleepiness, she whispered under her breath...

"Please come back, dad...

" _Please_..."

* * *

Dru's idea of getting a nice night's sleep before planning anything difficult seemed brilliant at first, but after a long struggle of trying to fight the fears in his head, he soon realized a fatal flaw...

Actually falling asleep...

Sluggishly looking at his watch, which read '8:11AM', he could now confirm that he had been awake all night long. He was envious of the many minions who had easily fallen asleep around him, since they didn't know about Gru's disappearance and were hence not fearful in the slightest. On the other hand, Dru just couldn't stop thinking about every detail of the past few days.

Something just didn't add up. Not only was divorcing Lucy and ditching his daughters beyond unlike something Gru would do, but doing so over something as silly as one little argument was absolutely and completely absurd. It simply didn't make any sense.

But, at the same time, considering the amount of stress that Gru had been under over the past three months, there were a lot of things that were changing about him. That prior optimism and general glee had been slowly disappearing from his face for some time, to be replaced by a tired, void cloud of pessimism.

It was like he was being overtaken by...some sort of _demon_...

 _'No...'_ Dru thought to himself. _'Dat's ridiculous...'_

But if that wasn't it, then what was it? Yes, he had been stressed out, but was that _really_ enough to make him ditch his entire life and rejoin villainy? Maybe Jack's assumption on the motel road yesterday was correct. Maybe they hadn't been a good enough family...

Sick and tired of negative thoughts, Dru scoffed and slowly rose from his bed, which looked a complete mess after the many hours of tossing and turning, before making his way out of the room. He listlessly traipsed his way through the mostly quiet lab, where a few minions were simply killing time by being their usual energetic selves, and over to the thin, blue elevator.

Even though the house was usually pretty quiet at this time of the morning, Dru could just feel that blank, hopeless atmosphere. Instead of feeling like a tranquil garden, it now felt like a deathly graveyard, even with the morning sun shining brightly through the windows. He hated it beyond comprehension...

Sorrowfully trudging down the hallway and into the kitchen, the blonde uncle found Lucy and Jack, one of whom was cooking quietly, and the other energetically cleaning every single surface in sight.

"Morning, Dru!" Lucy exclaimed cheerily. Dru jumped back a little with shock at the sound of her gleeful voice. "Such a lovely day out there today, isn't it? Maybe if we've got some free time, we could have a barbeque or play catch or go on a trip to the park! It's been a while since we've done that!"

Totally befuddled, Dru turned to Jack and handed him an interrogating expression, one of which prompted a clueless shrug from the teenager. It was obvious that he was just as perplexed about Lucy's overzealous attitude as Dru was.

He knew that it was common for people who were going through the grief process to experience a denial phase, but was there need to grieve right now? It wasn't like Gru was confirmed dead or anything. Maybe she was just losing hope. Maybe she just had to keep herself happy to avoid having a breakdown.

Either way, knowing that Lucy's wide elated smile was just a ploy to trick herself into thinking everything was fine, Dru was finding this whole situation extremely creepy.

"Hmm... _yessss_..." He replied, giving her a very forced smile in response, desperately searching for an excuse to leave the room. "Uh...well, I guess...uh...I'll go wake up de gurls and...wait, where's Vectro!?"

"Don't worry, I handcuffed him to the wardrobe in my room." Jack replied, not taking his eyes off the food he was cooking. "There's no way he can escape."

"Are yoo sure!?" Dru questioned, stress overtaking him. "Because...because de gurls are up dere...and...and eef he escapes den...he could...he might-"

"Dru! Calm down." Jack interrupted sternly, sighing out of annoyance as Lucy bounded past him and wiped down the kitchen counter for the fourteenth time. "I told you not to worry. I know for sure that he won't escape."

"But what eef he does!?" Dru yelled loudly, putting his hands on his stressed head.

"He won't," Jack replied simply, shrugging. Dru was totally lost for words at this point. "And anyway, even if he does, I know he's not gonna hurt the girls..."

Without another word, the blonde villain dashed out of the kitchen at blinding speed, almost falling over the wooden floorboards. He raced through the hallway and made his way upstairs, tripping up every other step on his way, before finally making it to the girls' bedroom door, which he almost barged off its hinges.

The girls were still cuddled up on Agnes's bed, but with the noise of Dru's eccentric entrance, they were no longer asleep. Instead, they were wide awake and confused, giving their uncle a peculiar expression.

"Phew...thank god yoo're okay." He said out of relief, gasping for breath. "I thought Vectro might've hurt yoo guys..."

"No, we're good..." Edith replied, rubbing her tired eyes before turning to her older sister and frowning a little. "I told you we'd be fine."

Returning a quick frustrated glance, Margo turned back to her uncle and irately questioned him, as she and her sisters climbed out of the small bomb bed.

"Why would you let Vector go!?"

"Oh! Um...well...uh...dere's a very good reason for dat, Margo..." Dru lied, knowing full well that he didn't have a reason. Jack's sudden trust in Vector was ridiculous and frightening, so how could he ever defend it convincingly? As he simply stood there, racking his brain for a reasonable answer, the impatient look on Margo's face grew deeper and deeper, threatening to consume the entire world within it. "We just need all de help we can get right now, Margo. De quicker we can find your dad, de quicker dis whole ordeal ees over weeth."

"But we can't trust Vector." Margo rebutted, her face falling downcast. "He kidnapped us! _And_ almost killed us."

"Yes, yes, I understand dat, Margo, but...but...but..." Again, his response was short-lived. There really was no 'but' to this situation, and he knew that full well. "Okay, okay, look, eef eet was up to me den I would've never let heem go, but Jack is adamant dat eet's a good idea! I tried persuading heem to tie heem up again but he won't budge! Eet's not _my_ fault!"

Narrowing her eyes angrily at Dru for a moment, who was clearly becoming very flustered and afraid, Margo turned to her sisters, who quickly looked back at her, and motioned for them to follow.

"Come on, _we'll_ go persuade him."

Edith and Agnes nodded and followed their older sister out of the room, while Dru simply stood there, watching them perplexingly. Once they'd left his line of sight, he quickly paced over to the door and peeked his head through, fearful that Vector had escaped and was trying to hurt them. Once he could see them safely walking down the stairs, he sighed with relief again.

Dru had a strange feeling that this was going to be a pretty stressful day...

The moment that the girls took a single step into the downstairs hallway, Lucy came bounding out of seemingly nowhere and started wiping the floor around their feet with a cloth, trying to keep every surface absolutely spotless.

"Heyyyy, there's my favorite girls!" Lucy exclaimed cheerily. The three sisters were a little caught off guard as she picked them up off the floor in a big, consuming hug, but obviously, they didn't protest. "Did you all sleep well!? Oh, please tell me you did! Or I'll have to go upstairs and give those beds a big talking to!"

Margo and Edith shared a look of total befuddlement, while Agnes simply giggled, clearly just enjoying the hug she really needed from Lucy.

"Ummm...yes, we did...thank you." Margo answered, her face twisted in confusion. The three watched in silence as she put them back down and returned to wiping every surface, including some parts of the wall. Washing the walls was certainly a little... _strange_ , to say the least. "Mom, are...are you feeling okay?"

"Well, of course I am, sweetie!" She replied loudly, doing a little dance as she moved at lightning speed around the room. "How could I not be okay on such a sunny, bright, happy day like this!? Ooooo, I know what we could do today! How about we bake some COOKIES!? Ahhhh, that sounds like so much _funnnn_! It's been _sooooo_ long since we last did that!"

Margo soon realized that it probably wasn't a good idea to respond to that. It was clear that Lucy was having some sort of breakdown, one of which the twelve-year-old was finding both confusing and absolutely terrifying.

Unfortunately, Edith didn't figure that out.

"But what about finding dad?"

Suddenly, for an uncomfortable amount of time, Lucy went dead silent and stopped prancing around, as if somebody just punched her right across the head. Her expression didn't change at all, but considering the sudden loss of energy, it was obvious that Edith's question triggered something in her head.

The girls watched her with a great deal of concern for a few seconds, before suddenly, she jumped up and started bounding with energy again, startling the living daylights out of the sisters.

"Or maybe gingerbread men! Oooo, we haven't had gingerbread men in _soooooo_ long!"

After that Lucy sped off into the living room with a huge joyful grin, presumably to give every surface in there a big clean as well. Once she'd disappeared, Margo and Edith could do nothing but stare at the living room door with a look of total shock, while Agnes simply turned to her older sisters with an expression of complete glee.

"Mommy seems really, really happy! D'you think daddy's come back home?"

"Um...I'm sorry Agnes, but...I don't think so." Margo responded despondently, watching as her younger sister's face fell again. "I think she might be... _pretending_ to be happy."

"It's really creepy..." Edith commented, as she spied the many pools of soap bubbles spread across the floor and walls. "And why is she washing everything? I don't think I've ever seen the house this clean before."

"I don't know, Edith." Margo muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Look, let's just go talk to Jack. Things are getting way too weird around here..."

The three made their way through the spotless hallway and into the equally pristine kitchen, where their older brother was still working on breakfast. There was a very clear look of stress on his face, which was either from Gru's disappearance, or Lucy's overly hyperactive spirit.

Most likely both.

"Jack, are you insane!?" The eldest sister questioned instantly after entering the kitchen, her voice a lot more aggressive than what was custom of her. The teenager, caught a little off guard, looked up and gave her a dubious look, unsure of what he did wrong. "Why did you let Vector go!? That guy is really dangerous! You need to tie him back up now!"

"I haven't let him go! What are you talking about!?"

"I saw you take him into your room last night!" Jack simply gave her an odd look.

"Yeah, so?"

"So you've _let him go_!"

"No, I haven't!"

"Yes, you have!"

"Well, he's currently handcuffed to my set of wardrobes, so would you call _that_ being _let go_!?"

Margo opened her mouth to respond, but after that reveal, she found herself lost for a decent response. He was handcuffed? Nobody told her that. She thought he was just sitting in the room without supervision, completely free to leave and cause harm. Thinking a little more clearly now, she realized that Jack was not _that_ stupid to let him be free with them around.

He definitely wasn't smart, but he also wasn't a _complete_ idiot.

"He is?"

"Of course he is, I wouldn't let him hurt you guys." Jack replied, as he picked up a spatula and started flipping over some bacon in the pan. Margo sighed a little, and turned away, relief washing over her. "Anyway, I know he won't hurt you anyway. Trust me, I can see good in that guy...he really isn't as bad as you think."

Okay, take that back, he _is_ a complete idiot.

Instead of responding, Margo stepped back, a large frown spreading across her face. She really didn't like the fact that Vector was in their home. She'd much rather he was tied up down in the lab. That way, there was practically no chance he would get to her and her sisters and cause them harm.

She was still confused as to why Jack would let him come upstairs. Yes, he was handcuffed and unable to move, but surely it would be safer to keep him downstairs, even if he was 'helping out' with finding Gru. And now, he was even labeling Vector as 'not that bad'. Was he on a deathwish or something?

But then, it hit her...

It would sound completely absurd to most people, but considering the mass amount of crazy weapons in the lab, and the strange events that had happened in this house over this past year, then her theory became more than just a possibility.

If Vector had found a way to get out of the interrogation room and into the lab's weapon unit, and if Jack then came down to interrogate him, then Vector coming upstairs without Jack having a problem with it would make total sense...

"Mmm...that smells _really_ good." Edith announced, as the enveloping aroma of bacon and eggs overtook her senses. Just before she could take a step towards the table to sit down, Margo grabbed her arm and pulled her back, trying to keep her as far away from Jack as possible. "Hey!"

"Come on, you two. Let's...let's go play upstairs..."

"What? But I don't wanna play upstairs!" Edith sulked, feeling her stomach growl venomously. "I'm starving!"

"Me too!" Agnes added, joining in on the sulk.

"We can eat later okay! Just come on!" Margo exclaimed quickly, as she carefully dragged the two out of the room, ensuring to keep an eye on Jack the whole time. Meanwhile, the eighteen-year-old simply stared at the three with a puzzled look on his face, completely unsure as to why Margo suddenly looked in such a hurry to leave.

However, he didn't bother questioning it, since he was really sick and tired of strange behavior this morning. Honestly, the quicker Gru returned and brought order back to the house, the better...

* * *

A warm grin across his face, Vector let out a small, satisfied moan as he finally woke back up, happy to get himself a nice night's sleep. Even though he slept on the wooden floor of some crazed teenager's bedroom, it was still a much better bed than the hike trail at Hunchback Mountain, or the marble steps in that huge hotel.

However, unfortunately for him, his grin was short-lived, since once he noticed the entrapping handcuffs around his arm, he felt the frustration in his head rise tenfold. Immediately, he pulled at it, hoping that the cuffs were made of a weak material, even though he knew deep down that they wouldn't be. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't proved wrong.

Immediately after that, he spun his head around the room at speed, trying to spy someway to escape. And then, he saw it. The handcuff key was on the dresser across the room, the light from the window reflecting from it brightly. He reached out his arm to try and grab it, but considering that he was locked up against the wardrobe, it was absolutely impossible for him to get it.

Growling with rage, Vector started pulling aggressively, trying with all of his might to get free from the handcuffs.

"Why...can't...something...just... _go_...RIGHT!"

And then, as he pulled with every ounce of his strength, a large 'CLUNK' sound penetrated the air, followed by Vector falling back onto the ground with a painful bump. At first, he thought he'd broken his arm or wrist or some bone somewhere, but once he realized that he was now able to move his arms and legs freely, he spotted that a chunk of wood had snapped from the wardrobe, the exact part that the handcuffs had been tied to.

Standing up with an evil smirk, Vector moved over to the keys and unlocked the handcuffs, officially setting him completely free.

Now the question was, what did he do next? Did he escape the house? Did he try and kill the family? Did he follow his father's wishes and kidnap them all? It would certainly make things easier if he did what his dad had asked, that way he wouldn't get chastised relentlessly. But how did he go about kidnapping them?

Tip-toeing across the room, the villain creaked open the door and cast a look out into the hallway, ensuring that the coast was clear. Indeed, there wasn't a Gru in sight, exactly what he wanted...

As he slowly started his way down the upstairs hallway, the sounds of childlike voices caught in his ear, and the villain immediately attempted to identify where they were coming from. Thankfully, he identified the source as behind the sticker plastered door to the girl's bedroom, meaning he could easily sneak past.

Although, considering that he couldn't hear any adult voices from inside, this was the perfect chance to get the easiest part out of the way and kidnap the children. They were surely entirely helpless in there, so what could possibly go wrong?

However, just as he turned to plant a hand on the doorknob, he quickly came to a realization.

If he started attacking the girls first, then it would surely make escaping the house with them all a lot more difficult. If they started screaming and panicking, which they would obviously immediately start doing, then Dru and Jack would be alerted and things would become a whole lot more arduous.

No, it was best to get the adults out of the way first. That way, the girls will be 100% entirely helpless...

Of course, the question was, how did he deal with all three of them in an appropriate manner? Did he try and fight them all? That seemed like a bad idea, considering that two of them currently worked with the AVL. Did he try and persuade them that he was no harm? Again, that seemed like a bad idea, since he doubted they were that stupid...

So, how did he deal with them? Then it hit him. That underground lab looked like it had some crazy weapons and potions and gadgets and...everything ever needed for everything ever. So, surely there was something down there that could help him out here.

Well, standing here idly thinking about it was not going to answer the question...

Continuing down the hallway and beginning his way down the stairs, Vector was still keeping a very close ear out for any noises or traces of human activity. To his dismay, he caught onto the sounds of gleeful humming from the living room, and suddenly, Vector was in a very difficult position.

He slowly started walking backward up the steps again, hoping desperately that whoever was in there would not come to check upstairs. As that thought crossed his mind, the villain almost had a heart attack as Lucy came racing out of the living room door and through the downstairs hallway.

Right now, if she started up the spiraling stairs, then he would be done for. She was a much better fighter than he was, and even if he did find some way to beat her, then all that noise would definitely alert Dru and Jack, and then it would become an unfair fight...

But thankfully, there wasn't any need to worry, since she turned left and started towards the kitchen, yet again leaving Vector completely alone and free. Sighing a deep sigh of relief, he completed the descent down the stairs and slowly made his way towards the living room doorway, not before checking if the coast was clear of course.

He walked inside the large room and inspected every nook and cranny, trying to relive the events of yesterday evening. What button did they press to get the lab elevator up? He remembered it being somewhat big and red in color, but he couldn't for the life of him remember where it was situated.

Then, the rhino chair caught in his gaze, and the red button on the armrest soon followed suit.

Determination overtaking him, the villain dashed at speed towards the chair, and without a moment's hesitation, hammered his fist onto the button. The cannon dropped down with a thud, one of which he hoped sincerely nobody had heard, and the light blue elevator opened up. He instantly leaped inside, and after a moment of waiting, watched as he fell into the floor, beginning his descent through the lab.

Keeping his head down, he hoped more than anything that none of those yellow things would notice him. It was still pretty early in the morning, so hopefully the majority of them were either still asleep or too tired to notice. Thankfully, his theory was true, since the lab was practically entirely empty, and the only minions who were actually awake didn't pay the elevator a moment's notice.

He could also see that blonde villain guy conversing with the old-looking professor guy, in what seemed like a fairly heated argument. If he could hazard a guess, he would say that the argument had something to do with the supercomputer in front of them, since the old guy kept pointing at it every other second with anger.

Thankfully, they were way too consumed by their aggressive conversation to pay him or the elevator any notice.

Once he'd completed the descent, he quickly scanned his eyes across every nearby shelf, hoping to find _something_ that would aid him in any way. His eyes came across poison darts, lava arrows...even something called a 'fart gun'.

Surely, that didn't shoot...?

No, he seriously doubted Gru would have a reason to make something like that. He was obviously a strange guy, but...surely not _that_ strange.

Finally, his eyes landed on a small vial of light blue liquid, which held a label titled 'Paralysis Serum', and the smile on the villain's face was impenetrable. This was perfect. If he put this serum inside the family's food, then they would be completely unable to move, making them exceptionally easy to kidnap.

What could possibly go wrong?

Grabbing the serum and darting for the elevator, the villain wasted no time in making his way back up to the house and into the living room. Thankfully, no-one had re-entered the room while he was down there, otherwise, things could've been derailed pretty quickly.

He carefully traipsed back into the hallway, still keeping a keen eye and ear out, making his way for the kitchen. There wasn't any sign of that redhead woman or the crazy teenager so far, so if things stayed how they were, then his plan would surely succeed.

However, he spoke way too soon...

As the villain took a confident step inside the kitchen, he almost collapsed out of total fright when he saw Jack's eyes looking right back at him. Thankfully, he hid the serum behind his back just in time, otherwise, this already pretty suspicious situation would look even worse.

"How...how the _hell_ did you escape!?" Jack questioned aggressively, moving from behind the counter to stare Vector down. The villain swallowed back his fear and took in a breath, trying to act casual, as if it was somehow expected for him to escape the bedroom and start traipsing through his house unsupervised.

"Uh...um...let's just say..." He began, shrinking down a little. "You're gonna need a new wardrobe."

Vector expected Jack to kill him right there on the spot. Or at the very least, cause him a considerable amount of pain. But instead, the teen gave him a dubious look, as if he was analyzing every inch of his face, and nodded impressively.

"Hmm...well...I guess you're a little more skilled than I gave you credit for." He commented. Vector's mouth dropped open out of shock. "Well, I was going to get you in a few minutes anyway, so just grab yourself a plate and sit down, I guess."

Jack motioned towards one of the seven plates of food on the counter, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, Vector turned to him with a look of awe.

"You...you made me breakfast?" Jack shrugged as he took his place at the table.

"A man's gotta eat."

"But...aren't you gonna punch me, or kill me, or...at least _yell_ at me?"

"Nah, don't think so." Jack replied through a mouth full of bacon, turning away from him to look down at his plate. Vector could do nothing but give him yet another shocked expression. He felt the urge to pinch himself, just in case this was all just a dream. It surely had to be a dream. Why would anyone ever treat _him_ with kindness? After a few seconds of Vector's silent staring, Jack looked back up at him and gave him a very odd look, as if there was totally nothing wrong with this situation. "Do...you _want_ me to?"

"No, no...uh..." Vector quickly replied, casting another glance at the plate of food that was made specifically for _him_. Suddenly, this paralysis plan seemed a lot less desirable. "Th...thank you..."

Jack smiled.

"No problem."

As the teen returned to his food, Vector gave the vial behind his back a short glance, debating the options in his head. He could either drug the food, kidnap the family, and receive a most likely sarcastic compliment from his father, or ditch the vial, stay with the family, and let his father handle his 'plan' on his own...

Frowning darkly as his father overtook his thoughts, Vector shoved the vial into his back pocket and walked over to the table, sitting down opposite to the teen. It was strange being near another human being and not holding complete resent against them. It felt wrong, but at the same time, kinda felt right...

At that moment, Dru came wandering absentmindedly into the kitchen, a stressed tired frown planted firmly across his face. That level of stress quadrupled when he saw Vector sitting opposite to Jack at the table, eating food from _their_ kitchen.

"Oh my god! Jack! _Vectro's escaped_!" He exclaimed loudly, as he leaped backward to create more distance between him and the villain. "Quickly! Punch heem or sometheeng!"

"Dru, Dru, calm down..." Jack replied soothingly, as his uncle began hyperventilating at a frustrating decibel level. "I can see that he's escaped, but...how about we just refrain from punching for a little while, okay?"

"But...but...what eef...what eef he hurts de-"

"No-one's gonna get hurt, Dru." Jack replied, speaking as calm as he possibly could, giving Dru a very odd smile. "Not me, not you, not Lucy. And _definitely_ not the girls. You just gotta trust me, understand?"

Dru could hardly hold back the expression of cataclysmic shock. He turned to Vector fearfully, who decided not to pay him any attention, and stared him down for a moment. Something was very very wrong here. _Definitely_ very very wrong!

Finally, the blonde turned around and sprinted out of the kitchen again with a loud shriek, just like he had done the last time he thought the girls were hurt.

This time, Vector couldn't help but turn around to look at him, since that screech could probably be heard all the way down the street.

"Does he have like...a megaphone in his throat or something?"

"Wouldn't surprise me." Jack replied, shrugging as he took another bite of his breakfast.

* * *

Margo marched back and forth through her room like a soldier, trying to determine a game plan in her head. There had to be some way to prove her theory, but how did she go about doing it without getting hurt? It seemed practically impossible, but alas, that had never stopped her before.

Edith and Agnes were lying down in their bomb beds moping, both with saddened famished looks on their faces. It didn't help that the smell of bacon was wafting through the door and mocking them either.

"Margo, can we _pleaseeee_ go have breakfast?" Agnes pleaded, sitting up in her bed. "It smells really, really good."

"No, Agnes, we have to stay here." Margo replied, not offering her a single glance. "Remember what I told you. It's just not a good idea to go downstairs right now."

"Jack's not gonna hurt us, Margo!" Edith responded aggressively, getting sick and tired of the hunger. "In fact, _you're_ the one trying to starve us to death!"

"He won't have a choice, Edith!" Margo replied, finally turning around to face her. "If Vector tells him to, then he won't be able to control himself. How many times do I have to tell you this!?"

Sighing very loudly and roughly, Edith slumped back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was really regretting failing that math test now. Maybe if she hadn't, Gru wouldn't have lost his mind and the family would've never gone on the road trip, meaning he'd still be here right now...

Suddenly, she felt very guilty.

However, she didn't have very long to dwell on that thought, because for the second time this morning, their door was almost hammered off it's hinges by their overly energetic uncle.

"Dru, you need to stop doing that..." Margo chastised, frowning. "You're gonna break the door."

"Gurls! Sometheeng very weird ees goeeng on around here!" He exclaimed, giving the three girls only a momentary glance before turning around to analyze the outside hallway for danger, which was gleaming with soap bubbles. Edith watched with a very keen eye as he did so.

"Tell me about it..." She replied listlessly. She really didn't have the energy for psychotic conversations anymore. "Dru, can you tell Margo to stop being insane? She won't let us go downstairs."

"No, no! Yoo need to stay up here!" Dru commanded, throwing the door closed after one last careful examination. Rolling her eyes, Edith sighed aggressively for what had to be the millionth time that morning and slumped back on her bed again. "I theenk dere's sometheeng very wrong weeth Jack! He's just sitteeng down dere, eateeng breakfast weeth dat Vectro guy!"

"I knew it!" Margo exclaimed, punching her palm. Dru gave her a perplexing look. "I knew this was gonna happen!"

"What? What are yoo talkeeng about?"

"Dru, I think I have a theory on why Jack is acting so weirdly..." Margo responded, seeming very concerned. "You see, ever since last night, he's been weirdly kind towards Vector. He's let him come upstairs, he's been saying nice things about him, he doesn't seem concerned that he might hurt us. And now, he's even making him _breakfast_! There's surely only one explanation, and although it sounds really farfetched, a lot of things sound really farfetched in this house, so I think I might be correct, because by looking at all the evidence-"

"Oh for god sake, she thinks he's been _brainwashed_!" Edith interrupted loudly and angrily, sitting up at speed.

"B-b- _brainwashed_!?" Dru repeated, now looking twice as frightened as he had done before.

"Yeah, stupid, right?" Edith mumbled, resting her head in her palm irately, giving the two a very fatigued expression.

"Well, it's happened before, hasn't it?" Margo stated, putting an arm on her hip in a bratty manner. "The IVB had found a way to brainwash Jack when he was there. _And_ Venin had managed to create a brainwashing gun and use it on Jack! What if Vector's done the same?"

Edith huffed and looked away from her eldest sister, still seeming unconvinced. Or maybe, the tomboy was just telling herself that it wasn't true in order to avoid getting even more afraid. She was already at risk of losing her father, she didn't particularly want to add her brother to that equation...

"Oh my god! What are we gonna do!? What are we gonna do!? What are we gonna _dooooo_!?" Dru exclaimed, bouncing up and down a little out of nerve.

"Dru! Dru! Calm down..." Margo exclaimed, snapping the blonde out of his small breakdown. "Don't worry, I think I have a plan to test my theory, but...we're gonna need your assistance."

"Yoo are?" Margo nodded. Dru gave her a frightful look. "Een what way?"

"Well..." The twelve-year-old began, dropping her head nervously. "We need you to find out...

"If Jack is _really_ on our side..."

* * *

The three girls and their uncle stared intently through the slightly opened living room door, watching their teenage brother and current arch-nemesis as they sat on the sofa. Jack and Vector were simply watching TV silently, the latter seeming both content and confused as to why he was even there.

Margo felt like this sight was evidence enough for the brainwashing theory, but she needed something more concrete before they escaped the house to search for help...

"Okay, Dru...do you remember the plan?" Margo whispered quietly. Her uncle took a few seconds to respond, as if he was taking some time to build up the courage. It was understandable, considering the risks...

"Mm-hmm..." He replied, nodding. "I just go een dere, annoy Jack, and den see eef he...tries to attack me."

"And what if he does?"

"Run like de wind." Dru answered, getting an approving nod from his eldest niece.

"Good."

"This is stupid," Edith added, refusing to whisper, much to the annoyance of Margo, who was desperately making the shush signal with her finger. "Jack's not brainwashed. Otherwise, he would've tried to hurt us by now..."

"Maybe Vector's told him to bide his time." Margo theorized, still watching the two men in the living room. "Maybe they're just waiting for the right moment to strike."

Dru let out a deep huff, both out of frustration and fright...

"Come on, let's just get dis over weeth..." Dru replied, closing his eyes and taking in a confidence breath. Clearing his mind of any fearful thoughts, the blonde villain pushed the door open and stepped inside, desperately attempting to ignore his blindingly quick heart rate.

The moment he stepped in, both Jack and Vector turned to face him quizzingly, but after a moment, Jack sighed and leaned forward in his seat.

"There you are, I've been waiting for you for ages." He spoke, as Dru approached in a threatening manner. "Are we gonna get started on this plan, then?"

Instead of responding, Dru frowned and picked up the nearest toy on the floor, which happened to be a fluffy elephant doll, and threw it at the teenager aggressively. For a moment, Jack simply stared dubiously at the toy that had bobbed him in the head and rested in his lap, but once he collected his thoughts again, he looked up at Dru with the exact same puzzled expression.

"What...what are you doing?"

Dru continued to pick up nearby toys and throw them at Jack with an angry high-pitched grunt, but since they were all as soft as pillows, Jack was simply staring at his uncle with a total look of uncertainty. His brain just couldn't capacitate the amount of strange behavior he'd experienced this morning, and so, he had absolutely no response.

After about a minute of watching this strange scene, the girls were both relieved and confused with Jack's nonchalant reaction. This gave pretty strong evidence that he in fact wasn't brainwashed, but at the same time, generated a lot of questions as to why Jack was giving Vector freedom to wander the house.

Eventually, utterly sick of hunger, weird behavior, and watching some of her toys being thrown abashedly, Edith darted forward into the room and made her way towards Vector.

"EDITH! _NO_!" Margo yelled, trying to reach out and grab her, however, to no avail.

Building up a really quick pace, the ten-year-old sprinted over and smacked Vector across the head fairly hard, instantly moving past him and darting towards the television right after. Both surprised and peeved, the villain rose from his seat and sent Edith a dark look, one of which brought back a few memories from the dance recital...

"Why you little-"

However, just as he stood up and gave the tomboy that look, Jack did the exact same, except in Vector's direction and with a much more fierce and frightening frown. Vector immediately realized the risk, and without a moment's hesitation, wiped the look from his face and sat down in an obedient fashion, not wanting to risk a surely fatal fight.

Margo, Dru, and Agnes were watching the sight with total fear, but once Jack had stood up and frightened Vector back down, they all breathed a long sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Edith had simply held a wry smile the whole time, happy to prove her older sister wrong. Yes, she did have to risk her life to do so, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jack would protect her.

He had done so many times before, and he promised that he always would...

Once Vector had sat back down, seemingly now devoid of anger or resentment, Jack calmed down and brought a fairly faint smile to his face. Deep down, he knew that he should kick Vector's butt simply for frowning at Edith, but he could tell by the look on his face that that wasn't a good idea. He knew this guy wasn't like the other villains.

He was an expert at realizing that, of course...

"How about we don't punch Vector from now on, okay?" Jack spoke with a grin, turning to his little sister, who returned the smile contentedly. "Now come on, you must be starving."

With those words, Agnes followed in Edith's footsteps and bounded into the room, with Margo again unable to stop her before she did. Lucy soon appeared out of nowhere and ran into the room, where started cleaning a few sections of the crocodile couch.

Everyone then started conversing causally, as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with this current situation. The eldest sister was now totally confused as she watched her family, who all seemed pretty content with being in the same room as a guy who had kidnapped them before...

But, though she couldn't exactly pinpoint which ones, worryingly watching her family converse with someone who was a danger to them did bring back a few faint memories...

* * *

The abducted Gru woke up that morning with a pounding headache. He had an absolutely terrible night's sleep in that wooden chair, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to explain why. Unsurprisingly, lumbar didn't provide much support, especially without pillows.

As he slowly re-entered an awakened state, Gru looked up and around at his surroundings in a bit of a daze, where he caught sight of Perkins and Fullbyte around the supercomputer. The two of them weren't paying him an ounce of attention, seeming extremely concentrated.

What were they up to? He had been trying to figure that out for some time, but he simply couldn't pin-point it. It was obviously something devious and evil, that he knew without a shadow of doubt, but what were they achieving by simply sitting around a computer for hours on end?

When he and Nefario used to conduct their own evil schemes, the only time they ever had to use a computer was to do some location analyzing, or blueprint research. But whenever they did that, it would only take about an hour at most, so what were these two doing that was taking them so long?

He wanted to know, but at the same time, really didn't...

Finally, after around a minute, Perkins turned to face him, clearly just checking to make sure he hadn't escaped. When the burly man saw him awake, Gru expected to receive some sort of evil or witty insult, but instead, Perkins just gave him a dark smile.

Somehow, that made the AVL director feel even more uncomfortable...

"Complete! It's complete!" Fullbyte announced, his voice full of cheer and relief. Perkins instantly turned away from Gru and faced the computer screen, his whole attention enveloped. "Finally, the entire area is mapped out! Looks like the main-building is absolutely full of security cameras, so getting him in there undetected while they're all active seems borderline impossible..."

"Ugh, _fantastic_." Perkins scoffed sarcastically, frustrated. "It's imperative that he isn't detected, otherwise the _whole_ plan will be ruined."

"Not to worry, old chap." Fullbyte announced gleefully, spinning in his chair to face his villain partner. "I've connected into the security camera database and the automatic re-enforcement system. With one click of the button, I can switch them all off and turn the entire vicinity into one huge blind spot. Plus, without the automatic re-enforcement system, no-one will be able to call for any backup."

"Wonderful! Just...wonderful!" Perkins replied with a large air of elation. "I have the undeniable urge to hug your right now, byte! But...well, I don't even hug my own son, so..."

"Yes, well...I'd prefer it if you..." Fullbyte looked the large, muscular man up and down. " _Didn't_ touch me..."

"Right..." Perkins nodded, giving him an odd look. "Anyway, while this is all fantastic on its own, I do have one last request."

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Well, instead of switching all the security cameras off, do you think you could divert the feed to another location?"

"As in...transfer the feed to another monitor?" Instead of offering a vocal response, Perkins simply nodded. "Um...yes, that shouldn't an issue. Just give me the IP address and it's done. Although, may I ask, what would be the need of that?"

"It's just...there are a few people that should probably see this," Perkins responded, casting a darkened look upon Gru, who was still eyeing the two of them with suspicion. "And I wouldn't want them missing out."

"Oh...okay..." Fullbyte replied, offering him a peculiar glance. "What's the IP?"

"It should be in here. Under the name 'Felonious Gru'." Perkins stated, reaching into his suit pocket to reveal a black notepad titled 'Contacts'. Fullbyte took it, and although he was very curious to know exactly what purpose this held, began the transfer protocol silently. "Now, talking about Gru..."

Perkins turned and approached the AVL director at speed, handing him a beyond evil glare. He looked like a vampire that was about to devour the blood of his victim, that victim being Gru. The father-of-four watched him closely, unsure of what to say or do, but when he noticed him beckon that Bandit brute forward, who had been silently waiting in the corner for some time now, he began yelling out of pure fear.

"What de hell ees happeeneeng here, Perkins!?" He exclaimed. Perkins's smile grew wider. "Just...look...I...I swear to _god_ , eef yoo take another step forward, yoo weel regret doeeng so weeth every atom of your _being_!"

Perkins grinned a poisonous grin, right before taking that dared step forward confidently. He stared Gru down with a 'what-are-you-going-to-do-about-it' expression, which angered the director a huge deal. Obviously, there was nothing he could about it, and that's what was enraging him so much.

"Just...what do yoo want weeth me, Perkins!?"

"Come on, Gru, keep up. I've told you all of this before..." The large man stated, kneeling down to look straight into Gru's terrified eyes. "That old life you hated so much is gone, Gru! It's time for things to change! It's time for you to finally push forward and follow your destiny! It's time for you to rejoin villainy, _once and for all_..."

Before Gru could reply with whatever helpless threat he could conjure, Perkins nodded his head commandingly, instructing Bandit to punch him square across the head, instantly knocking him unconscious.

Staring down at his comotosed victim with a mixed grin of fulfillment and rage, the bank owner stood back up and turned to Bandit, who was looking back at him with an elated expression.

"Untie the ropes and carry him on your shoulder for me, would you?" Perkins requested, which Bandit followed without complaint. "Our next stop...

"The NASA headquarters."

* * *

 _NOW, we're getting started!_

 _So, clearly, this was, for the most part, a filler chapter, but it was quite important filler. Vector's character and storyline have become a whole lot more complex than I had originally planned for him, but now that a few things have changed, this chapter was pretty imperative. Nevertheless, I hope that you enjoyed it._

 _Some huge stuff will go down in the next installment, which should possibly (emphasis on the word possibly) be out at the beginning of January. I will get started on it right after Christmas, so I can't see how I won't get it out soon!_

 _Speaking of Christmas, hope everyone has a really, really good one, that is if you're celebrating, of course. Obviously, all reviews are appreciated, whether they're praise or criticism. See you soon!_


	10. A Bit Of A Pickle

_And we're back!_

 _I don't think I've ever been this consumed by my own piece of writing before, but over the past few days, I've literally been having dreams about this chapter. I've put a tonne of effort into every line in this installment, to the point where I've been sitting in college absolutely shattered from writing, so I really hope you do enjoy it._

 _Should also probably mention that some parts of this one do get pretty intense, so just a heads-up._

 _Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter. Got some really kind words so it's extremely appreciated :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten:**  
 _ **A Bit Of A Pickle**_

"...and so, as it sprayed a tonne of water in my face, all I could do was look down at the floor and yell ' _curse you tiny toilet_ '!"

A chorus of laughter rose up around the kitchen table, all of which Vector was soaking up graciously. He had originally seen the idea of sitting around at a table with three bratty children, one psychopath teenager, a loud energetic man-child, and a creepily-cheerful redhead as something very avoidable, but after realizing he didn't have much of a choice, he was slowly beginning to enjoy it.

The past twenty minutes or so had simply consisted of general conversation and the occasional funny joke, but for whatever reason, it felt kind of special. Like it wasn't just a simple uneventful chat amongst human beings. Like there was something more behind it that he simply couldn't pinpoint...

He found the whole experience to be weird. _Extremely_ weird. It gave him an unidentified feeling he hadn't felt in some time, that he just couldn't place a word upon. However, though it may be odd and kind of uncomfortable in its own sort of way, Vector could see no reason to complain about being here...

" _Tiny toilet_! Haha, dat's hilarious!" Dru guffawed, uncontrollably bumping into Jack in a fit of laughter. The teen turned to him and frowned, but in order to avoid interrupting the laughter, didn't say anything...

"Yeah, so...now there's no toilet in my lair, and I have to go to the gas station down the road every time," Vector continued, as the laughter in the room gradually died down. "But whatever, it was still fun shrinking everything."

"Yeah, that sounds _so_ cool!" Edith exclaimed, before crossing her arms in a sulk and giving her brother a frustrated frown. "Why did you have to leave the shrink ray in that big underground base thingy?"

"'Cause I was unconscious," Jack replied, smirking a little humorously. "It's pretty hard to remember stuff when you're unconscious..."

Instead of giving a verbal response, Edith simply rolled her eyes, as if being knocked out cold by the psychotic boss of an insanely evil corporation wasn't a good enough excuse.

"Why don't you just get a plumber to replace the toilet?" Lucy asked, talking while wiping all the kitchen cupboards. She had been sitting down at the booth table with everyone else for a little while, but after realizing how uncomfortably upset she was getting without the distraction of cleaning, she immediately stood up to wash every single nearby surface for the umpteenth time.

"They're all too scared." Vector replied, shrugging and setting his head down for a moment. "Probably because I fired missiles at them the last time they came to fix the plumbing."

Margo's combined expression of fear and anger rose once again with that admittance. She hadn't said a single word yet, mainly because she was focusing hard on Vector and what he was doing, ensuring he wasn't thinking about causing harm to anyone.

Unsurprisingly, she was _totally_ uncomfortable with this situation. The man who kidnapped her and her sisters and almost caused their needless deaths was sitting at the same table as them, and yet, nobody but her seemed to have a problem with it. She couldn't comprehend why, and for that reason, her mouth refused to open, purely out of utter confusion.

Up to this point, he had made dozens of villainous references, continuously mentioning the things he'd stolen, the heists he'd perpetrated, and all the people that feared him. But, for whatever reason, none of her family batted an eyelid when he did, apart from her of course.

She really wished Gru was here. He would never ever stand for this. He would've already kicked his butt and locked him away in jail long before now. She was a little surprised that Lucy wasn't doing the same, but considering how concerned and afraid she clearly was, she would never blame her for not thinking straight.

"Pajama man?" Agnes spoke up suddenly, not receiving a response for a few seconds, since Vector hadn't initially realized that she was actually referring to him.

"Oh...uh, yeah?"

"Why _did_ you fire missiles at the plumbers?"

"Oh, well...I guess..." The young man attempted to respond, but yet, no words came to mind. He could possibly tell the little girl that he was an evil villain and he didn't need a reason for firing missiles at people, but for some reason, that just didn't feel appropriate.

And when he came to that realization, his mind was clouded with a new question. When did he ever care about things being appropriate? When did that suddenly become a concern? He had never cared about that sort of thing before, so why would he now?

And for that matter, why was he even sitting here? Why had he agreed to this? Why had that teenager even invited him to be here in the first place? Why hadn't he punched him unconscious yet? Why was he treating him with actual human decency instead of just disposing of him?

As more and more questions flooded his head at a rapid rate, Jack interrupted the odd silence that had built up and answered for him, since it was obvious that Vector was having trouble doing so.

"Because that's what he had thought was right, Agnes." He slowly turned to Vector as he spoke, who was giving him a look of total bewilderment. "He just...wasn't thinking straight."

Vector continued to stare blankly at the teen for a moment, unsure of what to say or do, before putting his head down and remaining completely silent.

"Because he's a villain, Agnes." Margo stated suddenly in a bluntly aggressive manner, looking at him with a harsh frown. Her voice was very quiet, yet infused densely with a thick layer of anger. "He _likes_ hurting people because he's an evil, _evil_ man."

Not expecting her venomous, deadpan tone, Vector lifted his head somewhat and looked at the girl glumly, before again, dropping it in a sorrowful manner.

"Margo..." Jack muttered angrily, signaling for her to be quiet.

"And now he's sitting around our table..." The eldest girl continued, as if she didn't even hear her older brother. "Even though he should be on the moon and away from _everybody_ so he can't cause any harm to anyone."

With that, a very uncomfortable silence fell upon the table, all forms of eye-contact being ceased. The only sound that could be heard in the room was Lucy's barely audible cleaning, which had also slowed and quietened down a bit.

At this point, that joyous unidentifiable feeling that the table contained had completely vanished, to be replaced with that same old feeling that Vector had gotten so used to. The young man frowned and balled his fists a little, the feeling of the paralysis serum signaling itself in his back pocket again...

"Pajama man?" Agnes spoke up again, this time not having to wait for a response.

"Yes?"

"Did you...kidnap my daddy?"

Vector quickly turned to look at the small girl in surprise, definitely not expecting her to ask that. She seemed very saddened by her own question, to the point where tears looked very close to surfacing, and he didn't have a clue on how to respond or act. He was hoping either Jack, Dru or Lucy would step in to do so for him, but on this occasion, they stayed silent, with Lucy's cleaning coming to a quick halt.

Additionally, the other two girls' expressions had quickly changed, however, not to the same extent of which Agnes's had. It seemed they were trying to keep up a brave front, one that was very easy to see past.

This also gave him another unique feeling, one of which that differed from the last, but at the same time, felt very similar...

"No...I...I haven't." He replied timidly, suddenly feeling very nervous under their intense gazes. "I swear...I don't know where your dad is."

Agnes's head fell quick, and with her, so had Margo and Edith's. He suddenly felt _very_ bad. Not only because these girls looked even more fearful now than they had when he'd kidnapped them a year back, but also, because he knew very well that he was lying to them.

His father had Gru. He was going to be using him for that unexplained _plan_. Of course, he'd found that out yesterday over the phone, but there wasn't a chance on earth that he was going to tell them that. Not only would it destroy his and his father's relationship even more, but he was also very afraid of how the family would react.

There was a very high chance that they would respond negatively. They'd say it was _him_ that kidnapped Gru and gave him to his father. They'd say it was _him_ that caused all this mess. All the blame would be placed on _him_ yet again.

It seemed he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and no matter what choice he made from here on in, the outcome was going to be the same.

Things were about to end badly...

* * *

Silence.

For a little while, that's all he could hear. Nothing but a brisk cold air could be felt upon his skin, with even that feeling as fake as plastic.

He could remember a harsh sound. One inside his head that felt as vibrant as vivid as his surroundings. He didn't know what it signified, or what created it, but he did know that he didn't like it one little bit.

Finally, he creaked his eyes open, realizing that he was back in that black, empty void. Unfortunately for him, the demon was once again stood there, it's mouth bent into a terrifying grin. For every moment that he stared at it, was another hair that stood up on the back of his neck. Defeated, he put his head down, not gracing the devilish thing with any form of eye-contact.

Gru was now completely void of energy.

His muscles ached. His head stung. His will had vanished. There was no escaping this now. He knew it very well. All of his being had been stolen in an instant, and now, his sense of concern had dissipated. It seemed his prior plan of 'playing along' was going to go ahead in a very different fashion from this point on.

It seemed he had no choice but to follow every command, without complaint...

The demon grinned poisonously, letting the former villain leave its grasp. The procedure was officially complete. It had broken the barrier.

Now... _it_ had control.

This world that it had once dominated, this world that it had cruelly lost, this world that it wanted back so dearly, was now in its control again.

It just couldn't wait to get started...

"I am not doing this for me Felonious, but for _you_." It spoke, it's voice echoing loudly, even though there were no surfaces for the sound waves to bounce off of. "This world has become so lost, so void of hope and prosperity, that my guidance is the only savior that can fix it now. You will thank me for this. Trust me, it may take time...but you will."

Gru didn't respond. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't. It was like his voice box no longer existed. Like it had fallen into disrepair and was no longer responding to his signals. It frightened him, since without the gift of voice, how could he ever continue?

There really would be no point...

"This world will no longer be plunged into darkness. No longer will it drown in this sea of uncertainty. I will come to its rescue. I will save it..."

The demon pointed directly at Gru, grinning evilly as it did so.

"...from _you_."

A strong rush of air suddenly surrounded him, and with it, accompanied an equally strong sense of fear. Immediately, his whole head shook, spinning him violently out of cohesion and befuddlement. A smell crossed his senses, one of which he was very familiar with, yet couldn't place a description upon.

Eventually, a voice tore him out of the void, bringing him back into reality...

* * *

"GRU!"

Gru's eyes opened to the sight of Perkins and Bandit, as they stared him down at him with a malicious grin. Behind them, buildings, vehicles, rockets, and a lone forest covered a large distance, with the horizon very clearly visible. Below his feet was a metal plain, one of which that mirrored the walls of his underground lab. However, he certainly wasn't underneath the ground...

It appeared he was on top of a roof...

"Do _not_ disappoint me..." Perkins uttered dangerously, staring the director down with a darkened expression. Gru gave him a look of total confusion, unsure of what question to ask first. "NOW!"

Before Gru could open his mouth to respond or at least say something, Bandit harshly grabbed a hold of him and threw him forward, right through a hole in the roof of the large metal building. He began falling at such a speed, that he simply couldn't hold back the violent screech of fear that exploded from his voicebox.

Right before he hit the floor in what would definitely be a fatal fall, a harness tied to his back, that had now registered its presence, pulled upwards and allowed him to gently press his feet down on the marble floor below. Once he had, the rope fell from the ceiling, landing with a 'clang' right beside him.

In complete confusion, Gru spun his head around the very large room before him, not expecting to see around one-hundred suited employees staring back at him from behind their computer monitors, totally shocked and fearful. Even though they were in his gaze, he hadn't noticed them while he was falling, since he was way too concerned with his seemingly impending death to do so.

He also never noticed the massive set of screens littering the walls, each one showing the insides of what appeared to be rocket ships. Many co-ordinates and seemingly random numbers were sprawled across them all, giving Gru a countless amount of questions that needed answering.

Finally, he noticed the 'NASA' logo implanted in the corner of one of the screens, clarifying one of those questions...

At that point, he looked back up into the hole in the roof, trying to yell up at Perkins with an ominous threat. But, the large man wasn't anywhere to be seen. Clearly, he and that spiky-haired thug had ditched the scene after dropping him inside, leaving him stranded in a very sticky situation. How had they even broken into the NASA headquarters in the first place? Surely, they would've been noticed, at least by a security camera...

Turning back to the employees, a few of which were now standing up from their desks, Gru opened his mouth and started babbling the first words that emerged into his head, trying desperately to provide some form of explanation.

"Please, please, dey've keednapped me! Some...some beeg guy punched me and...and he threw me through de ceiling and...now I'm here and...yoo've _GOTTA_ help m-"

"Security!" One of the employees yelled, pointing at Gru as he gathered the attention of a few muscled men that were now entering the room through a set of double doors. One of the employees must've alerted them of his breaking in just after he'd entered. "This guy!"

The men approached at frightening speed, almost knocking over a few employees as they did so. It was clear that they were excited by the possibility of apprehending and beating the hell out of the former villain, something Gru didn't particularly fancy right now.

"NO! Please! I can expl-"

However, just before he could finish his exclamation, one of the nearer employees swiftly ran up and kneed him in his side, obviously attempting to make him an easier target for the security men. Stumbling back and yelping in pain, Gru spun around and narrowed his eyes darkly at the man, feeling his fists subconsciously clench tight.

He didn't know why, but when he looked into the eyes of the employee, who seemed a mix of terrified and determined, all he could see was an enemy. Someone who disliked him. Someone who wanted to hurt him. Someone who wanted him dead...

He was so sick and tired of people wanting him dead. He was so sick and tired of having so much responsibility. He was so sick and tired of the endless amount of pressure and dependence and paperwork and fighting and hostility and missions and...

 _NOW_...he'd reached the end of his tether...

Lunging forward, Gru grabbed the employee around the neck and threw him strongly to the floor, sending a nearby desk toppling back. He yelled in pain, clearly trying to utter some form of plea, but was quickly interrupted by the strong fist of Gru, that slammed painfully into the side of his head a multitude of times.

In retaliation, more employees lept from their desks and ran forward, trying to stop the AVL director before he could hurt anyone else. But, they didn't manage to make it very close, since before they could, Gru spun their heads with a sharp right hook and sent them to the ground in a sprawling mess.

Finally, the first securtiy man made it to him, and with a quick lunge, attempted to rugby tackle Gru to the floor. However, unbeknownst to him, the former villain had anticipated it and maneuvered to the left at impressive speed, leaving the muscled man to fly head first into a computer monitor. The collision was certainly enough the knock the man out cold, as electric sparks spluttered out everywhere.

Now, overtaken by the need to go on a complete rampage, Gru was sprinting around punching anyone and everyone in his sight, whether they posed a threat to him or not. The majority of the employees were now running around frantically, trying to make it to the exits to make an escape. But, overcome by the need for revenge, Gru was not content with letting them do so.

People were now being thrown left, right and center around the room, either into desks, computer monitors, or walls. Some were lying on the floor, calling out in pain, while others were lying around silent, since they were completely unconscious.

With determination coursing through his veins, the second security man sprinted over in a rush, trying desperately to stop the rampage before it got out of hand. He grabbed Gru in a strong headlock and began strangling him, trying to suffocate the crazed man to the point of unconsciousness. However, he didn't expect the director's surprisingly good agility, as he managed to punch himself free and send the muscled man to the ground in less than a second.

As he laid helpless on the floor, the man desperately tried to cover his head as he was pelted with punch after punch, Gru sitting on top of him going insanely nuts. He was yelling loud pieces of gibberish, curse words, and all forms of violent language. After a while, he knocked the muscled man out cold, but before Gru could realize and stop punching him, the next member of security came and tackled him to the floor.

This time, it was Gru being punched over and over, but unlike his victim, the AVL director managed to quickly slide under his legs to get free. Once he'd realized that Gru had escaped, the muscled man turned at speed to try and get him to the floor again. But, he had no time to react before the former villain threw a nearby monitor at his head, knocking him out cold instantly.

Now, with all three security members knocked unconscious, and with all the employees either escaped or on the floor, Gru directed his anger to any nearby pieces of furniture. He threw desks, computers, chairs, printers, pretty much everything in sight...

That was, until his senses returned and his anger dissipated, which was when a very sudden question crossed his mind...

What was he doing?

Breathing heavily out of rage and fatigue, Gru looked down upon the destroyed furniture and the men littering the floor, and couldn't help but shake his head in rejection. For a few seconds, he refused to believe the sight before him, hoping that the past few days had all just been a lengthy dream. Soon enough, he'll wake up inside his bed, with his beloved wife right beside him and his three children just down the hall.

But, he knew full well that this was all happening, and once he'd passed the short phase of denial his head fell into, his legs began to wobble with fear...

Looking down at his shaking hands for a second, which were red from all the punching, Gru fell to his knees and grabbed a hold of his head, his whole body shivering uncontrollably. Pain surrounded his chest, abdomen, and limbs, but as he got lost in his own thoughts, he didn't even register its presence.

Was this even happening? Where did that come from? Was that even _him_ punching all those people?

More and more questions crossed his mind at speed, and more and more damning answers accompanied them.

Yes, this _was_ all happening. No, he had _no_ clue where that came from. Yes, that _was_ him that just punched all those people.

Yes, he clearly _was_ going absolutely insane...

Closing his eyes and gripping onto his head even tighter, a lone terrified tear trickled from Gru's eye, his whole body now shaking even more. For the first time in a very, _very_ long time, he truly felt helpless. Perkins was trying to ruin his life, his family thought he hated them, and now, he couldn't even trust his own brain to not go absolutely crazy.

Looking up again, Gru watched as Perkins and Bandit entered through the nearby double doors, the two of them holding victorious smirks. A part of his mind told him to stand up and take them down as well, but as they got closer and closer, every ounce of hope inside him faded away even more.

The end was near. This was a battle he simply couldn't win.

There was no point anymore...

As their hostage stared up at them dejectedly, the two large men came to a stop just in front of Gru, looking down on him like he was a worthless bug. Their grins continued to grow in size, even when they looked like they couldn't get any bigger. Clearly, they were lapping this moment up happily, admiring how helpless the former villain was.

"Very well done, Gru. That was absolutely brilliant." Perkins commented, raising his head valiantly. "Now, for your... _reward_."

Yet again, Bandit lunged forward and punched him across the head violently, knocking him to floor in a state of complete unconsciousness. The thuggish man cackled a little after doing so, clearly beyond elated with the number of punches he was getting to serve.

"Everything is falling into place." Perkins said contentedly, nodding as he stared down at Gru's inanimate form. "Soon, I will have my long-awaited revenge."

Reaching into his suit pocket, the burly man took out his phone and dialed in an unusually short phone number, before holding it up to his ear with excitement. An elderly man responded on the other end, giving him a very formal yet suspicious greeting.

"Fullbyte, it's me." He stated quickly, casting a look up at a nearby surveillance camera. "You can transfer the footage now..."

* * *

 _SCANNING...SCANNING...SCANNING..._

 _ERROR: SEARCH FAILED._

For the fourth time in a row, Dr. Nefario's phone signal scanner had failed to locate Gru's location, leaving both him and Jack with frustrated and exceptionally worrisome expressions. The teen proceeded to bury his head in his hands, sighing deeply as he did so.

"Just... _please_." He begged quietly under his breath, taking a moment before turning to Nefario with a look of despair. "Make it search again."

"Jack, this machine uses a _heck_ of a lot of electricity." Nefario replied, giving the teenager a frown. "If we do it again, it could shut off the power for the whole neighborhood."

"I don't _care_ , just... _DO IT AGAIN_!" Jack exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the desk, startling the elderly man a little. The two silently stared at each other in ire for a few seconds, before the eighteen-year-old sighed and dropped his head, giving in. "Look, I'm...I'm sorry, Nefario. I'm just...really worried."

"Hmph...well, that's understandable," The scientist replied, nodding as he turned back to the computer system. "But you really have nothing to be worried about. Gru's a tough fella, he'll be fine."

"But you don't _know_ that..." Jack responded, leaning back in his chair to stare dejectedly at the ceiling. "If it can't find his phone, then he might be... _dead_."

"Or...maybe...his phone's off." Nefario rebutted, trying his best to use the most reassuring voice he could conjure. He clearly wasn't very good at it, since Jack's worry didn't seem to subside one bit, based purely on the strong look of doubt on his face alone. "Look, I've known Gru for a very long time, longer than any of you guys. He's a very hard worker, and when he gets himself burnt out, he can get kind of crazy. He's gone off at me dozens of times when he gets knackered. Things have probably got a little too hectic with this director thing and he just needs a break, that's all."

"But that's not enough to make him file for divorce, Nefario! Crazy or not, that's something you just don't do lightly!" Jack replied, spinning his gaze around the room as he wracked his brain senseless to find some form of solution to this. "Something's just not right here, and I...I can't figure out what it is!"

Nefario huffed and went silent, deducing that he simply wasn't skilled enough at this consoling thing to proceed any further. Jack picked up on that quickly, and with a long and sorrowful sigh, stood up and left the room, making his way for the elevator.

Dru, Vector, and the girls were all in the living room, using toys as a method of distracting them from Gru's disappearance. Just behind them, Lucy was wiping down even more surfaces, to the point where her wrist was beginning to severely ache.

Originally, Vector could never see the fun in playing with toys shaped like animals or vehicles, but now that he was giving it a go for himself, he was beginning to understand the appeal. He couldn't deny it, it was exceptionally fun to pretend drive some miniature car around a room, no matter how childish and immature it may be.

After rising up from the floor, Jack stepped out of the elevator with a sigh, ashamed of himself for still not finding Gru. He moved through the room at a slow pace and parked himself down next to his sisters, falling onto his knees with a huff.

"Deed yoo find Gru?" Dru inquired instantly, inviting the girls and Lucy to stop what they were doing and look at him hopefully in unison.

"Sorry, guys..." Jack answered, dropping his head sorrowfully, something the rest of them couldn't help but do as well. "But no..."

After receiving the response that they didn't want to hear, the family sighed sorrowfully and returned to their individual distractions, whether that was a form of toy or cleaning utensil. All apart for Margo, who just couldn't distract herself, even if she tried.

Not only was Vector's presence still frightening her, but the ominous question of what Jack, Dru, and Lucy were hiding from her was bugging the twelve-year-old to no end. Something bad had happened, that she was certain of. The extent of what had happened must also be pretty significant, since Lucy was never the type of person to cry hard over something, or the type to require cleaning to refrain from going insane.

Staring at her teenage brother with a frown, all Margo wanted to do was stand up and yell at him until he finally revealed what was happening. But, at the same time, she was fearful of bringing up something that would severely upset Lucy, since that would in turn also upset her sisters.

Racking her mind for a solution, Margo put her head down and thought very hard, trying to find some way to extract the answer without treading in a sore spot.

And then, it hit her...

Margo had plenty of experience with manipulating answers out of Edith with careful questioning, a technique that was very useful against her when she had done something wrong and was hiding it. And since her eighteen-year-old brother was practically a physical clone of her ten-year-old little sister, surely the same technique would work on Jack as well, right?

Looking up at him with a small mischievous smile, Margo took a few seconds to devise a foolproof plan. Once she'd developed one inside her head, she slowly began with the questions...

"So Jack, what were you doing in the lab?" She questioned suddenly, replacing her frown with a fake, innocent smile. Not expecting the question, Jack looked up at her inquisitively, seeming a little surprised and confused. "You never said."

"I was...uh...using that phone signal scanner that Dr. Nefario has..." He replied, narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously. "I'm...pretty sure I told you th-"

"Ahhhh, I see..." Margo interrupted, nodding. "How does that work then?"

"Um...it...it looks for someone's phone signal and then tells you where it's coming from..." Jack replied, becoming more and more puzzled. "It's...pretty self-explanato-"

"So, how come it didn't work? Surely, that must find out where Gru is."

"Uhh...I guess...it...it just couldn't find a sig-"

"Why? I mean, surely if his phone's on, then it can find the signal, right?"

"Well...yeah...but I guess his phone must be off or somethi-"

"Hmm...strange." Margo was now seeing truly how befuddled Jack was becoming, and after a moment's silence, proceeded with the closing question. "So...why's all this happening, then?"

For a few seconds, Jack didn't know how to respond. Not only was he confused about the onslaught of questions he was suddenly receiving, but he also hated the answer to that last one. Getting upset, the eighteen-year-old put his head down and turned away a little, his defense unknowingly beginning to break down.

"Well, y'know...because...I did something stupid and...said all those horrible things to Gru and...made him really angry." He explained, getting lost in his own damning thoughts, to the point where everyone around him seemed to vanish for a little while. "And now, he's ran off and gone missing, all because of what I did. And you girls might lose your dad. And everything's my fault. Thing is, I don't even understand what happened. Like, he just went _freaking_ crazy out of nowhere, and...it just doesn't make any sense. Like, there's just something that doesn't add up, and I can't figure out what it is. I mean, who gets _divorced_ over one silly argument?"

At that point, two high-pitched gasps brought him back into reality, cutting off his thought process in an instant. He lifted his head in confusion, where he was met by the deeply shocked expressions of Margo and Edith, the terrified expression of Dru, and the bewildered expression of Agnes.

At first, he didn't even realize what he had done wrong, but once he had, his whole face fell with regret.

"Oh...I...probably shouldn't have said that..."

"Dad's getting a _DIVORCE_!?" Margo exclaimed loudly, turning to Lucy out of pure fear and sorrow. The redhead's cleaning had accelerated tenfold, proving how hard she was trying to block out the conversation.

"What's a ' _divorce_ '?" Agnes asked innocently, cocking her head to the side. Before anyone could grace her with a response, Dru jumped in, interrupting with an exclamation of ire.

"Ugh, Jack, are yoo _really_ dat stupeed!?" He boomed, frowning deeply. Jack switched his gaze between him and Margo in slight shock, baffled at how that even happened. For someone who used to spend the majority of their time dealing with manipulative villains, he sure was easy to manipulate.

"That isn't true, right Jack!?" Edith butted in, shaking her head in complete rejection of that proposition. "Tell me that isn't true!"

Her brother looked at her helplessly for a few seconds, his head void of solutions. He tried to think of something, anything, that would appease her and make her less concerned. But, he knew he couldn't lie to her. If he did, that would simply be prolonging the inevitable...

Turning to his uncle for a moment, who seemed saddened and frustrated, he sighed and gave him a look of total despair. Dru mirrored it, knowing this admittance just had to happen. Huffing sorrowfully, Jack turned to Agnes, who seemed both confused and scared, and spoke as carefully and reassuring as possible.

"Agnes, a _divorce_ is something that happens when someone doesn't want to be married anymore," The small girl's face fell very quickly, quicker than Jack ever thought possible. She turned and momentarily glanced at Lucy, using her eyes to plead to her, waiting for her to exclaim that it wasn't true. Lucy's cleaning accelerated even faster, to the point where the paint on the wall was beginning to grade away. "And yes...it's true."

Utterly shocked and upset, Margo and Edith dropped their head in unison, the latter dropping her hat over her eyes, something she only did when she was trying to hide tears. Slowly, Dru scootched over and consoled the two of them, trying to cuddle away their sadness. Unfortunately, it was proving to be an extremely difficult task.

Instantly after hearing those words, Agnes jumped up and ran over to Lucy's leg, where she began roughly tugging on it, desperately attempting to gather her mother's attention. Lucy's lip started to tremble, her defense weakening.

"Mommy...?" Agnes mumbled weakly. After a few painful seconds, the redhead finally decided to face her, her fists balling together subconsciously as a method of keeping the breakdown inside. The little girl didn't say anything else. All she did was stand there, tears building up in her eyes, every morsel of her being wanting Lucy to assure her differently.

Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, trying her hardest not to cry. She knew that there was nothing to be worried about. She knew that everything was going to be fine. She knew that, soon enough, Gru will return and profess his love to her, scrapping the divorce idea and spending the rest of his life with her.

She knew that, without a doubt, all of that was a lie...

Finally, she kneeled down and pulled her youngest daughter in for a hug, a few tears seeping into her eyes. Utilizing every piece of her AVL training, particularly the hiding your emotions part, she tried desperately to hold herself together. To keep up a brave face for her kids...

That was proving to be an arduous feat.

Vector, who was watching the scene with a downcast expression, felt a mix of empathy and befuddlement. He was internally surprised at himself for feeling even the slightest bit empathetic, since he really couldn't remember the last time he felt genuinely upset about someone else's pain. But, though he was confused about his saddened feelings, he was even more confused about Jack's confession.

Gru was getting divorced?

Even though he'd only yesterday found out that Gru had gotten married, it still confused him somewhat to find out that he was planning on getting divorced. Of course, he would never actually know the relationship he had with his wife, since he'd never seen them together. But, what was confusing him, was how this tied together with his father's plan.

Had he forced them to get a divorce? Was _that_ the plan? Or was the divorce _part_ of the plan? Obviously, sitting here thinking about it wasn't going to get him the answers, so he needed to try and get in contact with his father. He knew it would be a dangerous decision, since the family may catch him and start accusing him of things, but he knew he had to give it a try.

He didn't know why he had to, but for whatever reason, he just needed answers.

Standing up slowly, Vector tried to very carefully slink himself into the corner of the room, where he could quietly contact his father without being noticed. Since everyone was way too consumed by feelings of shock and sorrow, he initially believed it was going to be an easy task. That was until Lucy lifted her head at speed and stared the young man down venomously, a look of irritation spread across her features. She must've been very on-edge, since the moment he stood up, her gaze threw itself to look at him.

Vector quickly turned his head away and acted as innocent as he possibly could, but after Lucy let Agnes go and started walking very slowly towards him, he realized that he was just making himself look even more suspicious.

"What are you doing?" She questioned quietly, yet extremely aggressively. Vector nervously laughed and rubbed the back of his head, attempting to think of an excuse as quick as possible.

"Uh...well...I was just-"

"What are you even doing in my house?" Lucy muttered in a demonic like fraction, sending Vector's heart-rate through the roof. "Why haven't you been tied up and locked away yet?"

"I...I...uh..." Vector was now subconsciously trudging backward, trying to get as far away from the AVL agent as possible. "I don't kn-"

Since he couldn't see where he was going, he accidentally bumped into Margo, almost tripping over her as she sat on the floor. Caught a little off-guard, Margo spun around to send him an aggressive glare, but as she did so, her eyes were instantly caught by the serum vial in the back of his pocket.

Vector spun around instinctively and gave the twelve-year-old an apprehensive glare, who frowned and stood up.

"What's that in your pocket?" She questioned. Vector's heart practically jumped into his mouth, making a small drop of sweat glide slowly down his forehead.

"N-n-nothi-"

While he was turned away from her, Lucy reached forward and snatched the serum out of his pocket, startling Vector to no end. He swiftly spun around to try and steal it away from her again, but by the time he'd managed to face her, she'd already read the label.

"Paralysis serum, huh?" Lucy read-aloud, her frown growing ever stronger. Immediately, the whole family turned to look at Vector aggressively, making him insanely uncomfortable. "Now... _why_ would you have paralysis serum in your pocket?"

"Look, I...I can explain." He began, switching his gaze between everyone. "I...I was trying to...trying to stop this guy who...who had broken in and-"

"You were going to _PARALYZE_ us!?" Jack exclaimed, standing up at speed and balling his fists together. "Why you piece of...I was wrong, you really _ARE_ evil!"

"No, no...I swear, I wasn't going t-"

However, before he could finish, Lucy grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air, staring deep into his eyes with one of the most fierce gazes the man had ever seen. Vector tried to squirm free, but no matter how much he tried, she was just too strong.

"I _KNOW_ YOU'VE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH MY HUSBAND!" Lucy bellowed at a huge volume, as she began shaking and strangling him in the air. "YOU'VE GOT _FIVE_ SECONDS TO TELL ME WHERE HE IS BEFORE I _BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR WHOLE BODY_!"

"I...my...my dad...he..." Vector tried to confess, but every single time a word left his mouth, Lucy's entrapping grip got tighter, cutting off his airway. "He...he...he's..."

"DADDY!" Agnes screeched suddenly, before proceeding to sprint across the room towards the TV. Confused, the whole family turned around to look at her questioningly, where they finally noticed what she was looking at.

Somehow, the television had been turned on. They didn't have a clue how it did, or who had done it, but nevertheless, it was displaying a slightly grainy feed of Gru, as he went around swinging punches at frightened, innocent men. Everyone's attention was instantly consumed, even making Lucy drop Vector to the floor in a painful mess.

They stood there watching intently as Gru continued to go absolutely crazy, a look of concentrated anger spread across his whole expression. Finally, right after witnessing him aggressively throw a computer monitor at a very muscular man in a suit, the camera turned to face the huge NASA logo being displayed on a massive monitor, as if someone wanted the location to be known.

After a few seconds, the feed cut out, to be replaced by static.

"Oh my god..." Dru muttered under his breath, his mouth agape. "Gru's attackeeng NASA."

"I don't believe it," Jack added, his eyes still glued to the screen. "It's actually true..."

"He's a villain again." Lucy clarified out loud.

A very uncomfortable silence fell upon them all. There wasn't many words to describe what they were feeling. They'd just witnessed Gru perpetrate a heist on the NASA headquarters, which not only confirmed the villain theory, but also proved that he really _did_ hate them all. One thing was for certain, that thought certainly didn't make them feel very good...

Slowly, Vector got back to his feet, fearfully watching the whole family as they stared at the static screen in a solemn manner. As well as them, he was also quite shocked to see Gru attack the NASA headquarters, but obviously, not in the same way that the family were.

Primarily, his thoughts were flooded with questions. This _had_ to be a part of his father's plan. There was no doubt about it now. Maybe the whole idea was to forcefully bring Gru back into villainy, so the AVL would fall apart. Maybe the whole idea was to try and kill Gru in a fatal heist, so that he would no longer be a problem to them.

Maybe the whole idea was to destroy Gru's relationship with his family, the same way that his and his father's relationship had been destroyed...

Finally, after about a minute of total silence, Jack turned to Dru and Lucy at speed and sent them a frantic frown of uncertainty, looking like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

"We've gotta stop him."

"You're right..." Lucy replied, nodding in agreement, though looking like that very proposition disturbed her to no end. "At least...we know where he is now."

"Who's gonna look after de gurls though?" Dru butted in, giving the three sisters a glance, who looked so unbelievably shocked and saddened, that he just wanted to hug all the pain away. "We can't leave dem alone."

"I'll do it." Vector stated aloud, his proposition being completely genuine. But, right after offering, his thoughts regathered, and he had to question why on earth he just proposed to do that. It was like some sort of chemical reaction that practically forced his mouth to open. Either way, it was a little bit frightening...

"Do you _really_ think we're _THAT_ stupid!?" Lucy boomed in response, grabbing him by the arm harshly. Vector yelped loudly in pain, fearful for a moment that one of his limbs had just been torn off. " _You're_ coming with us! Dr. Nefario can look after the girls!"

"No way! _We're_ coming as well!" Margo exclaimed suddenly, inviting surprised looks from Dru, Lucy, and Jack. Surely, that was some sort of joke, right? She should understand that they couldn't come on a dangerous mission, for very obvious reasons. However, it was very clear she was being deadly serious, based on her expression of determination alone.

"Yeah! We ain't staying here!" Edith added, stomping her foot on the floor demandingly. "I wanna go kick some butt!"

"Yayyy!" Agnes cheered with a much more hopeful smile, lifting her arms in the air in a celebratory manner. "Let's get daddy back!"

"Don't be silly, girls. It's too dangerous." Jack stated, trying to hide his impressed grin. He had to admit, he admired their spirit. "You could get hurt."

"So could _you_!" Margo rebutted, crossing her arms defiantly. "How come _you_ get to go!?"

"Because we're all adults!" Dru argued. "We've had experience weeth dangerous stuff, so we won't get hurt!"

"So have we!" Edith argued back. "We've been kidnapped loads of times, and we've never got hurt!"

"The answer is _NO_ , girls!" Lucy exclaimed in a very authoritative and harsh manner, catching the three of them off-guard a little. She was clearly pretty stressed, and right now, the last thing she needed was another family-based argument. With Vector in tow, Lucy marched over to the rhino chair and slammed her palm on the button, summoning the lift at speed. "Go down to Dr. Nefario and _stay there_ until we get back, alright!" The three sisters refused to move, instead opting to cross their arms and stare at Lucy in a resistant manner. "That means _NOW_!"

Realizing that they were fighting a losing battle, the three girls slowly trudged into the elevator, all the while giving their mother an aggravated stare. Lucy held firm and returned the exact same expression, watching profusely until the lift disappeared and swallowed them into the floor. At that point, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay...there we are." She turned back to Dru and Jack, who were giving her a very concerned look, something the redhead was finding weirdly reminiscent, before letting out a loud announcement. "Now, to quote Agnes...

"Let's go get daddy back!"

* * *

Barrelling down the roads at an unsafe speed, sending pretty much every oncoming car into a swerving frenzy, Dru, Lucy, Vector, and Jack were making their way to the NASA headquarters, completely unsure of what they'd find when they arrived. They couldn't deny it, they were afraid. Not only by what Gru had already done, but what he may end up doing next.

What if he had truly gone crazy? What if, when they arrive, he attacks them with the intent to actually kill? Surely not. There was no way he would ever think about killing his wife, son, and brother, right?

Well, only a few days ago, they thought he would never run away, file for divorce, and then rejoin villainy, but they were certainly wrong about that...

After a long and fearful drive, they arrived at the headquarters, pulling up to the front gates apprehensively. To their surprise, they had been left completely open, with no members of security anywhere to be found. Watching their surroundings carefully, Lucy drove the tank into the employee parking lot at a slow speed, all of them keeping a very keen eye out for Gru.

Coming to a stop at the nearest empty parking space, the four exited the large metal vehicle and gave each other false determined looks, all while Vector was being unwillingly dragged out by the still livid Lucy. As they slowly trudged their way towards the entrance, not a single sound could be heard anywhere around them, that is apart from the light waft of the breeze and the occasional squawk of a bird.

There was a very clear sense of nerve in the area, as if it had been left behind by the last people that had come through. Something inside told them that Gru most likely had something to do with that, since judging on the anger laced in his face from the footage, he must've been striking some intense fear into people.

Entering the building, the four expected to see the main reception in a disgruntled state, something that was usually the case when a villain-based breaking and entering had occurred. But, to their surprise, the lobby was totally undamaged, with not a single trace of destruction to be found. What made the case even more questionable was the fact that there was absolutely no-one around, so how did they know that he'd gotten in?

"Wh...what gives?" Jack questioned aloud as they entered, spinning his gaze around the large room with befuddlement. "Everything looks totally fine in here."

"God knows." Lucy muttered irately, as she strutted forward with clear malicious intent. Her hand was still grasped firmly around Vector's arm, now beginning to cause the man considerable pain. "Gru's a clever guy when it comes to villainy, so..."

Cutting off her own sentence, Lucy said nothing more and continued on ahead, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Jack and Dru shared concerned looks as she did so, since she hadn't even looked at any of them since they'd left the house. Was she just really angry? Or really stressed? Or afraid?

Maybe it was all of the above.

Paying hefty attention to their surroundings, the four carried on through the building, traipsing through different hallways and checking inside the different rooms they passed. Up to this point, there was still not a trace of human presence, but obviously, based on what they'd just seen Gru do on their TV screen, that wasn't too much of a surprise.

There were still no signs of a breaking and entering, but based on the pieces of furniture that had been carelessly barged out of the way in some places, there had clearly been some form of a commotion.

Eventually, they made it to the very large room with all the massive monitors that Gru was inside, left in the exact same terrible state. Unconscious bodies, broken chairs, shattered tables, and the occasional shard of glass lined the floors, revealing just how much damage the AVL director had caused.

For a little while, they never even noticed the large man sitting down in a nearby chair with his back to them, but once they'd caught sight of him, Dru, Lucy, and Jack all widened their eyes in slight surprise.

They had been expecting Gru...

"Uh...hello?" Dru called out, taking a few steps forward. The man didn't move an inch, as if he didn't even hear the blonde's loud, high-pitched voice. "We're...lookeeng for my brother. His name's Gru. He's bald, and quite tall, and has a theeck European accent. Have yoo seen heem around anywhere?"

After a few seconds of silence, Perkins slowly turned in his chair to face the four of them, his fiery grin catching them all off guard. Instantly, they knew something was wrong, but decided against questioning it just yet...

"Why, yes...I do believe I have." He stated ominously, crossing his legs together, as if this was some sort of very strange business meeting. "He was somewhere around here earlier, punching innocent people and giving me complete access to the entire NASA vicinity, but...he's not anymore."

"So... _where_ is he?" Lucy questioned darkly, narrowing her eyes at the man. Before responding, Perkins cackled a little, momentarily glancing at the floor.

" _That_...is none of your concern." Lucy and Jack shared befuddled, yet very angry looks. This entire time, they had a deep, hidden feeling that something about this divorce, villainy thing just wasn't right. Was this man the source of that feeling after all? "Now, since you three have made it here safely, I would just like to thank my son for fitting the final piece of this puzzle in a very efficient manner. Nice job, Victor."

Dru, Lucy, and Jack turned to Vector in unison, each one of them having the exact same malicious expression. Vector could only look between them and his father apprehensively, totally unsure of his next move.

"I suggest you let go of him..." Perkins continued evilly, staring Lucy down with a look of complete rage. " _Right this second..._ "

"And what if I don't!?" Lucy challenged, grabbing Vector around the neck hard, obviously threatening to strangle him.

But, at that moment, a strong push from behind sent the redhead flying through the air at a sudden and unexpected speed, toppling Vector to the ground and Lucy into one of the large monitors hung on the wall.

After that, she fell head-first into a pile of broken computers, tables, and chairs, producing an extremely loud impact. The fall looked so painful, that it would be a miracle if she was still conscious...

"LUCY!" Dru yelled frantically. He raced over to her at speed, leaping over the broken pieces of furniture in front of him like he was a professional athlete. Perkins watched him carefully as he did, his smirk growing ever wider.

Both confused and extremely, _extremely_ angry, Jack spun around at an insane speed to face and punch whoever just pushed Lucy. But, catching him totally off-guard, the teen didn't have a single second to analyze the person's face before they clocked him around the head with unbelievable power.

Jack went crashing to the floor, destined not to get back up...

Once he'd made it to her side, Dru shook Lucy's figure, hoping for her eyes to open up or at least signify that she was still okay. However, after a lengthy amount of time, her face still hadn't moved in the slightest, and Dru could feel every muscle in his body tense up in terror.

"Lucy...come on, please wake up..." He whispered pleadingly, as the speed of his shaking began to rise quickly. "Please... _please_... _PLEASE_ wake up!"

"Give it up, squeaky blonde man." Perkins stated in a candid manner, after quietly coming up behind him. Startled, Dru let out a small shocked squeal and turned around, staring deep into the large man's eyes. "I can assure you, she won't be waking up anytime soon."

Growling with pure, concentrated anger, the blonde villain clenched his fists and turned his expression downwards, handing him one of the most threatening looks he'd ever conjured.

"Yoo...will... _regret_ dat..." Perkins cackled once again.

"I doubt that." He replied, not a trace of doubt in his voice. "You see, the only one who'll be regretting anything...is your _brother_."

Before Dru could respond with whatever threat he could think up first, Bandit appeared from seemingly nowhere yet again and punched him unconscious, sending him crashing into the pile of broken furniture, right next to Lucy. Perkins, as he looked down upon his inanimate victims, grinned and nodded his head, beyond elated.

"We're almost there. This all just... _too perfect!_ " He uttered happily, as he turned towards his muscled associate with an expression of pure determination. "Now...you know what to do."

Bandit nodded and left the room without another word, his fists still balled together. Giving him a deathly threatening look, the huge man strutted past Vector and through the double doors, forcefully kicking every piece of furniture out of his way.

"Dad, what the _hell_ is going on!?" Vector questioned, stepping over Jack's unconscious form to make his way towards his father. "What is this all about!? And for that manner, why are we at the NASA headquarters?"

"All part of the plan..." Perkins replied simply, as he absentmindedly strolled through the room, smiling to himself with glee.

" _What_ plan!? You _still_ haven't told me what the plan even _is_!?"

"Oh for god's sake, _come on_ , Victor! Use your brain for once!" Perkins exclaimed, turning to face him in frustration. "The _REVENGE_ plan! We're getting our _REVENGE_! Because of Gru, _you_ almost spent the rest of your miserable life on top of the god-damn moon! Do you _seriously_ think I'm gonna let him get away with that!?"

Caught a little off-guard, Vector simply couldn't help but smile a little, appreciating that confession. His father was getting revenge on Gru on _his_ behalf. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe his father _did_ love him, but he just showed it in his own unique little way.

"Really?" Vector replied, unable to hide how touched he was in his voice.

"Of course." Perkins confirmed, nodding. "I mean, I need you alive, otherwise my bank's _done for_."

But, as quick as Vector's faith was built up, was as quick as it was broken down.

It wasn't about his love for _him_ , but rather, his love for that stupid _bank_. He already knew that as well. How could he be so stupid as to think otherwise? Frowning, Vector dropped his head sorrowfully, casting a small sideways look upon the unmoving expressions of Lucy and Dru.

"Now..." Perkins continued, grinning evilly yet again. "Come with me, Victor. You really don't wanna miss this."

Vector replied, but decided against making eye-contact, simply because he was sick and tired of his father's face. "Miss what?"

"Something very... _very_ special." Perkins cackled. "You see, Gru's about to watch his whole family...

" _Leave this planet_."

* * *

Down in the lab, the girls were sitting in the minion's recreation room, sulking vigorously with their arms individually crossed. Obviously, they were beyond angered by the fact that they were denied permission to go on the rescue mission, since after all, it involved their very own father. _They_ should be allowed to help get him back.

Not only that, but they were also undeniably frightened. _Terrified_ , in fact. Not only have they most likely lost their father forever, but they may also end up losing their mother, uncle and brother as well. If that happens, they'll be carted back off to Miss Hattie's, where they'll spend the rest of their childhood without parents...

They wouldn't even want to be re-adopted. No mom and dad could ever weigh up against Gru and Lucy, not even in the slightest.

Additionally, this whole waiting around in the minion recreation room for their parents to return from a life-threatening mission brought back some very haunting memories. Since, of course, this exact same occurrence happened when they left to take down the IVB.

Then, thankfully, they had returned. But what if this time, their luck had run out...

Saddened by their upset state, a few of the minions were surrounding them in groups, attempting to find some way of lifting their spirits. A few of them were purposely getting into fights and accidents, in the hopes of making them laugh, but unfortunately, it just didn't seem to be working. There was just way too much on their minds...

"I told you Vector was bad news." Margo muttered out of nowhere, casting a frustrated look on Edith. The tomboy returned the expression, except in a much more offended fashion.

"Hey, _I_ wasn't the one who set him free! Go blame Jack!"

"I do blame Jack, but maybe if you weren't so accepting, he would've got rid of him instead of trusting him!"

"Just...shut up, Margo!" Edith turned away and walked off, creating some distance between her and her older sister. "I'm so _sick_ of your voice!"

Her feelings slightly hurt, Margo huffed and also walked away, leaving Agnes sitting all alone. Feeling her fear rise substantially, the six-year-old moved over and cuddled the nearest minion, which happened to be Dave, searching for some form of comfort.

Both saddened and touched, Dave cuddled her back, trying to use the most calming gibberish words he could conjure.

"Akwai can..." He sang softly. "Akwai can..."

Momentarily looking away from his newspaper, Dr. Nefario rolled his eyes at the sight of their argument and turned away, trying his best to ignore it. He couldn't be dealing with bratty children right now, especially when his former partner and current best-friend was going insane. He had to admit, though he was happy to see him return to villainy, watching him throw away his life like this was a difficult thing to comprehend.

Getting back to his newspaper, the elderly scientist returned to the article he was currently reading, which was detailing the account of some motel receptionist who had apparently been held at gunpoint, when he heard a very familiar sound catch in his ear.

The elevator...

Slowly turning to look out of the door, the doctor kept a very keen ear out for any further noises, being met by complete silence. Since his hearing was certainly not the best, it was probable that he'd just imagined the 'whoosh' sound that he was so accustomed to, but for safety reasons, he thought it a good idea to go out and check.

Wandering out of the room, Nefario trudged carefully through the lab's hallways, listening out closely for anything suspicious. There was not a single sound. Only silence. Something that was freaking the scientist out even more...

Finally, he made it over to the elevator, his gaze analyzing every inch of it. It was empty, but judging on the fact that it was wide open, must not have been for long. With that sight, he felt a trickle of fear flow down his spine, his muscles all tensing up in unison.

Slowly and carefully, he moved over to the nearest weapons shelf, where he went to pick up the knockout ray. As he reached to grab it from it's usual position, he was surprised to see it missing, it's spot completely empty. Confused, the doctor turned around, trying to remember where he could've misplaced it.

However, he certainly didn't have to think for long, since when he saw an unknown spiky-haired muscular man pointing it directly towards him, he was provided with an answer...

"Well...this is a bit of a pickle..."

 **ZAP!**

* * *

 _As always, sincerely hope you enjoyed. Clearly, things got pretty crazy in this chapter, and the next will probably be even crazier. Don't have a clue when it'll be released, but that's pretty much always the case with me anyway._

 _Obviously, all reviews are very much appreciated._ _Will return ASAP._


	11. It's A Lie

_So, after a whole year since originally being published, we've finally made it to the penultimate chapter of this story. Make sure you're suitably comfortable and have plenty of time on your hands, cuz this one's FREAKING long! The longest Down The Bloodline chapter I've ever written, in fact! (which may explain why I took so long lol)_

 _Just as I did before, I should warn that some scenes here get pretty intense. I mean, like, the most intense we've seen in this DTB. Still, I hope that adds to the enjoyment!_

 _Yet again, thanks so much for the nice reviews on the previous installment! I sincerely hope this one doesn't disappoint :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven:**  
 _ **It's A Lie**_

Slowly, letting out a small exasperated groan as he did so, Gru regained consciousness. The last thing he could remember before everything went black was the fist of that Bandit guy being thundered into his head, for what must've been the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. At this point, being knocked unconscious was becoming pretty cliché...

As his eyes gradually squeezed open, a million different thoughts and questions spun around his head at speed, and the only one he could answer was his location. He was sat against the wall of a small, poorly lit room, facing a rough looking elevator, which was plastered with the NASA logo. Around him, a few tables, computer monitors, printers, and a lone television acted as the furniture.

The feeling of ropes being pressed around his wrists and ankles made itself immediately apparent, and based on these facts alone, he could conclude that he was _still_ being held hostage.

What did Perkins want with him? After a whole day of being trapped in ropes, he still wasn't any closer to figuring it out. He knew it had something to do with rejoining villainy, since the large man had been endlessly harping on about it since he'd woken up in that mansion, but he had an unshakable incline that something else was behind his kidnapping.

Why would Perkins ever care about him being a villain again? The bank owner always considered him to be one of the worst in the business anyway, so what did it matter? If there actually was something more to this whole kidnapping thing, which he was becoming more and more certain of as time went by, then he just hoped it didn't involve his family...

At this point, he couldn't deny how truly frightened he was. He had no clue what was going to happen next, and for that reason, he couldn't help but fear the worst. Before, when things looked completely hopeless, his wife's presence would always fill him back up with determination. Her spirit and attitude was all it took to pump him back up with the desire to kick some butt and save the day.

But, without her here, his fears and doubts were reigning supreme, leaving him unable to think straight.

The fact that his whole family most likely hated him didn't help either. However, though he sincerely wished that they didn't, he couldn't blame them, considering how he'd treated them at the end of the road trip. They didn't deserve to be yelled at, or to be needlessly frightened, or to be ditched at that motel. They were the only thing in his life that actually meant something, and now that they were gone, he was filled to the brim with regret.

How could he be so god-damn selfish? When the best family in the whole wide world were sitting right beside him, how could he ever complain about being bored with his life? Yes, his overly stressful job had been making him a bit loopy, but the fact that they were all there for him should've been enough to keep him sane. Why, that was the very thing he'd told Jack a month prior.

What kind of example was he setting for his daughters? That it's okay to go absolutely crazy and threaten those close to you? That it's fine to get up and ditch your children if you feel it benefits you more? God, they must be so afraid right now. With their own dad just running off and leaving them without an explanation, as if they meant absolutely nothing to him. No doubt, he felt totally disgusted with himself...

He was just thankful they didn't see what he did in the NASA HQ, otherwise, what would they think of him then?

Slumping to the dirty cold floor, Gru closed his eyes and just laid there, trying to imagine a better scenario than the one he was currently in. However, everytime he tried to conjure a world where him and his family were infinitely safe and happy, the reminder of the real world would suddenly strike him like a baseball bat.

When he felt the sting of tears at the back of his eyes, the bald man blinked to try and get rid of them, but as he did so, he finally caught sight of the window just to his left, and the view that sprawled out behind it.

A huge rocket stood there, lights blinking energetically across it, as if it was awaiting some form of signal. A large array of tiny windows lined the front and back, truly defining the magnificent size of its interior. As he sat there, watching the massive space vehicle intently, more questions came to the front of his mind.

What the _hell_ was happening? Why on earth was he being held at the _NASA headquarters_? What was so special about _this_ specific location? He needed to know, yet at the same time, dreaded the answer. To gather more information on his surroundings, he really wanted to move right over to the glass and inspect the environment more closely, but with the ropes around his ankles, there wasn't a chance he was going anywhere...

All he wanted was to know the truth, to know why he'd been kidnapped, to know why he was-

"Hello, Gru..." A dark voice muttered beside him. Startled, Gru flinched and turned to the source, where he was met by the looming forms of Perkins and Vector. They stood just in front of the closing elevator, grinning hazardously. Gru must've been so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't even hear them come in. "Did you have a good rest? No doubt you did, what with all that _exercise_ you had earlier..."

"Let...me...go...Perkins." Gru mumbled dangerously, his voice cutting out from pure, unbridled rage. This whole being completely helpless while strapped against a chair situation was becoming both boring and predictable now. "I am _seeck_ and _tired_ of dis..."

"Yes, yes, very scary, Gru. I am shaking in my boots." Perkins commented, rolling his eyes as he strolled through the room, grinning to himself maliciously. Gru's anger boiled like a pot on the stove, threatening to spill out at any moment. "I've gotta admit, this has been a whole lot more fun than I anticipated. You're much less boring than I gave you credit for." Turning to the rocket ship out of the window, the malice upon Perkins's face grew ever stronger. "Pity it's all about to be over..."

Growling, Gru clenched his fists and glared at Perkins with pure venom, using his eyes like they were lasers. Throughout this small conversation, Vector had been watching the two closely, attempting to soak up this situation as much as he possibly could. Of course, he'd been waiting for this moment ever since he'd gotten off the moon, so he wasn't going to let it pass without a bit of fun...

"Long time no see, Felonious." Vector greeted venomously, giving the man a cold smirk as he slowly strolled towards him. Gru, whose gaze had been locked like glue on Perkins thus far, turned and stared the young man down demonically, the fire in his eyes not dying down in the slightest. "I bet you've missed-"

Cutting himself off, Vector finally noticed the collection of darkened bruises lining his skin, and the previous smirk that occupied his face was wiped in an instant. A few seemed to be turning a vicious shade of purple, while others seemed to be accompanied by small stains of drying blood, making him look like a total, disparaging mess. Unexpectedly, as he looked right into Gru's eyes, Vector's thoughts were instantly consumed by those three little girls.

How would they react if they saw their dad like this? If they reacted badly to the news of his divorce, then they were sure to be traumatized by the sight of Gru in a state of complete despair. Honestly, he looked close to death.

Vector was suddenly not enjoying this moment very much anymore...

With the young villain's sudden change of attitude, Gru's previous irate expression temporarily transformed to befuddlement. But, just as he was about to respond with some form of aggressive comment, Perkins turned back around and butted in.

"Shut up, Victor." The man stated demandingly, interrupting Vector's empathetic thoughts. "I don't have to time for your pathetic little revenge speech. I have a plan to explain."

Frowning poisonously, Vector followed the demand and crossed his arms in a sulk, before casting another intrigued look upon Gru. It seemed that Perkins's voice had made his anger return immediately, since the rage in his face was beyond measurable.

"What plan!?" Gru exclaimed. "Ees dis de ' _please come and rejoin villainy_ ' plan!? Because eef dat's de case, like I've told yoo already, I'm _NOT_ interested!"

"Well, that's fortunate, then," Perkins retorted. "Because that _wasn't_ the plan I was referring to..."

That prior fear returning, Gru's expression immediately fell downcast. To his dismay, it seemed his terrifying theory from earlier was being supplied with more and more evidence. Though he already knew deep-down that this rejoining villainy thing didn't make any sense, the closer he got to proving it's doubtful legitimacy, the more apprehensive he became...

"You see, Gru...us humans, we know quite a lot about this planet." Perkins began, turning his back to the AVL director. "We've explored pretty much every inch of it. As time goes on, once we've figured out a method of survival, our species will probably venture off to a new one. To find that much-needed variety in our lives. After all, we can't be stuck in the same place forever. It gets boring..."

Digesting that information, Gru turned his head away in thought for a few seconds, totally confused and frustrated. He was really hoping this confrontation would provide some more answers, not leave even more questions unattended...

At this point, having their total bewilderment in common, Gru and Vector subconsciously shared odd questioning looks. Although, after remembering the pure hatred that they held for each other, they both turned away and frowned darkly, pretending that moment never happened.

"Just...what de hell are yoo on about, Per-"

"I'm _NOT_ finished!" Perkins interrupted, spinning around at a blurred speed and startling Gru and Vector to no end. The large man glared irately at the former villain for a few seconds, before instantly calming down and continuing the explanation, as if the outburst never even occurred. "So many planets in our solar system are completely unexplored, and all of us here on earth would just love to go out and adventure across them all. Unfortunately, our level of technology is our downfall. We just don't have the ability to take a human into space and send them to another planet safely yet. It's simply not possible..."

Still confused, Gru and Vector watched closely as the large man strolled across to a nearby table and picked up a small remote control, cradling it in his grasp as he spoke.

"But...I guess it's still worth a try..."

Grinning maliciously, Perkins slammed his thumb down onto the device, switching the aforementioned television on promptly.

What Gru and Vector saw on the screen made their jaws drop instantly...

Dru, Lucy, and Jack laid totally unconscious on the floor of a very futuristic looking room, filled to the brim with blinking lights and undescribable gadgets. Upon further inspection, based purely on the view outside of the circular window, it was very clear that they were inside that massive rocket ship...

Before Gru even had a chance to blurt out his exclamation of fear, Perkins pressed the button again, making the display transition to another room inside the rocket. This time, his girls were sat against the wall, consoling each other comfortingly out of fright. Nefario was also inside, pressing at random buttons on a large control panel at speed, clearly trying to find a way out.

It seemed he wasn't having much luck...

"What...how...how deed yoo..." Gru babbled relentlessly, panic overtaking him. As if it was some form of chemical reaction, the father-of-four quickly attempted to get to his feet and race out of the room in a hurry, completely forgetting the existence of the ropes around his ankles. Tripping and falling, he squirmed helplessly on the floor for a short while, continuing to exclaim yelps of total urgency. Perkins simply watched the scene with an entertained smirk. "I _SWEAR_ to _GOD_ , eef yoo even _DARE_ try and hurt dem, I will-"

"Oh, _QUIT_ with the threats, Felonious!" Perkins cut in, darting forward to loom ominously over his hostage. "You can't do a _THING_ while you're tied up in those ropes, so _DON'T_ even try!"

"Yoo underestimate me, Perkins!" Gru retorted. "Once I've found a way out of dese theengs, yoo're _DEAD_!"

Growling, Perkins reached down and grabbed the director around the neck, strangling him with uncomfortable strength. Slowly, he lifted him high into the air, all while staring deep into his fearful, desperate eyes.

"You're just lucky _you're_ not dead yet. But, you see, I need you _alive_ for this..." Perkins mumbled aggressively, his large teeth binding together. Gru wiggled and squirmed rapidly, attempting with all of his might to escape before he passed out, something he seemed to be having trouble with. Slightly lessening his grip, Perkins turned and walked slowly towards the television screen, pointing at the rocket with his other hand. "You're gonna watch as I send you're pathetic little family off high into space, just like you did to my son. And after that, once they've traveled off far into the depths of the universe..." Pausing midway through his sentence, the large muscled man grabbed the TV and threw it to the floor, smashing the screen and cutting off the feed of the three sisters. "I'll come back and sort _YOU_ out..."

As his hostage growled and attempted to kick out at him, Perkins cackled and threw the AVL director across the room, sending him crashing into a nearby table. As a computer monitor and printer fell down hard onto his abdomen, Gru groaned in anguish and rolled around on the floor in pain, his brain battling hard to keep him conscious.

Chuckling evilly, Perkins turned around and pressed the button for the elevator, electing the sliding doors to open up. Walking inside and pressing the ground floor button, the bank owner spun and faced his son, ushering him forward.

"Come on, Victor." Vector, who was staring intently at both the smashed television and the pain-ridden form of Gru, jumped a little and turned to his father questioningly. "Let's get our revenge..."

Nodding slightly in response, Vector followed on and entered the elevator with his father, just as the doors slowly began to close. The last thing he saw before him and his dad started their descent, was Gru reaching his arm out towards the window, as if he was desperately attempting to save his wife, brother, and children from the rocket.

Vector was unsure what to feel at that moment...

* * *

Re-entering consciousness, Lucy groaned and gradually eased her eyes open, battling with the onslaught of pain surrounding her head, torso, and limbs. The ropes that were squeezing tight against her ankles and wrists definitely didn't help in subduing the pain either. For a moment, she didn't have a clue what on earth was going on, since her head was way too dizzy to think straight. But, once her senses slowly began returning, memories from not too long before did as well...

Vector's dad revealing himself. Gru being taken hostage somewhere. Some unknown guy throwing her hard into a television, knocking her out cold and leaving her completely defenseless...

Proceeding that, the realization of what was happening clicked in her head at lightning speed and the protocol of escape initiated at the same rate. Of course, this sort of situation had occurred dozens of times by now, so she was more than mentally equipped to deal with being kidnapped.

Scanning her gaze around her surroundings, the AVL agent quickly attempted to figure out her location, in order to begin planning an escape route sufficiently. But, upon spotting the inanimate forms of Dru and Jack adjacent to her, her attention was completely absorbed.

The moment she laid her eyes upon them, as if on cue, they slowly started to wake up, both carrying the same type of discomforting pain and puzzled expression that she woke up to as well. Unsurprisingly, just like her, they had been tied up with ropes, leaving them absolutely helpless when it came to moving.

"What...what's happeneeng?" Dru questioned, raising his head in an uncharacteristically listless fashion and meeting Lucy's gaze. Though the fear on his face at that point was already at an extreme level, once he noticed the bands trapping his limbs in place, his terror elevated that little bit higher. "Wh-wh-why are we tied up!?"

"My guess is that we've been kidnapped." Lucy replied simply, her frown darkening. Angrily, she put her head down, staring at the floor as if it was her mortal enemy. "Probably by that big, suited guy..."

Ire was running through her veins at the same pace that her blood was. At this point, she was absolutely sick and tired of feeling fear, sadness, and guilt. Now, all she wanted was to find and save her husband, get back home, and spend the rest of her life ensuring that this kind of situation never happened again.

Somehow, she thought, that was probably easier said than done...

"Where the hell even are we?" Jack inquired out loud, spinning his head around the large, confusing room. The number of multi-colored lights and small radar screens that stared back at him both impressed and terrified him at the same time. "I feel like I'm in some sort of Sci-Fi film or something..."

"Yeah, well, the less time we spend in here the better, I think," Lucy stated, her head still down, as if her thoughts were trapped somewhere else entirely. "So...how about we get the hell outta here?"

"But..." Dru began, sharing a perplexed look with Jack. " _How_? I mean, we're kinda tied up."

Lucy, who finally let out a genuine grin for the first time in hours, shuffled around for a moment before unveiling her untied arms, the ropes gliding freely down her wrists. Shocked, Dru and Jack looked between her and the bands in awe, the two of them clearly having the same question in their heads.

"Turns out that the AVL can teach you some pretty cool stuff." She commented, shrugging nonchalantly. Beaming, Dru squealed a little in a mix of relief and excitement, as Lucy leaned down and undid the ropes around her ankles. Meanwhile, Jack simply frowned, a sulk drawn boldly across his expression.

"That's not fair! _I_ didn't get taught that..." He said, turning away in frustration. Grinning humorously, Lucy threw away the now untied ankle ropes and moved over to her son and brother-in-law, setting them free as well.

"Well, you've only been training for a month. Just wait 'til you've been doing it for twenty-years...then you'll probably learn."

Lucy turned to him and grinned mockingly, as Jack simply scowled and turned away, irritation evident across his features. Once she'd set the two free, the AVL agent wandered around the room, obviously attempting to decipher what this room even was. However, based purely on the onslaught of seemingly random coordinates and colors that littered the many screens on the control panels, she had absolutely no clue.

Following suit, Dru and Jack also strolled around the room, occasionally stopping to press at a button or inspect a screen. Eventually, Dru got to the circular window built into the wall, and with a small gasp, he analyzed the exterior intently. Once he noticed the huge thrusters standing right below their feet, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where they were...

"Oh my god!" He yelped loudly, attracting the intrigued gazes of Lucy and Jack. "Guys, take a look at dis!"

The two of them raced over and inspected the outside view in unison, their curious eyes widening in shock simultaneously once they made contact with the aforementioned thrusters.

They were in a _rocket ship_!? Perkins must have placed them inside after knocking them unconscious. But, why? What's the purpose of trapping them inside a rocket? Wouldn't it just be easier to trap them in an easily accessible room in the actual NASA building?

Unless, he was going to...

"Um..." Jack muttered, fear swiftly drawing itself across his face. He turned to his mother and uncle gradually, being met with two mirrored expressions of fright. "We should...probably find a way out."

Panic overtaking them, the three spun and dashed around the room at pace, attempting to locate an escape route. Obviously, their first instinct was to look for a door, but to their surprise, there wasn't a single one in sight. All the room contained was walls, tables, screens, and that one unopenable window. So, how did Perkins get them inside here?

Dru, who was audibly squealing to himself, was racing around helplessly, as if he was mentally praying that the method of escape would appear and politely present itself. Jack, who was having trouble controlling his anger, was going around throwing and punching things, hoping dearly that the extremely durable steel walls would break.

However, Lucy, who seemed deathly focused, was taking a slightly more proactive approach. Instead of unbridled fear or panic, logic was dominating her thought process, as she spun her head around analyzing every inch of the interior. If this room was truly inside a rocket ship, then surely it had to be a lot more technologically advanced than any other, less peculiar room. For that reason, maybe there actually was a door around here, but they just couldn't see it...

Locking onto the huge control panel, Lucy scampered over and scanned her gaze upon every single button, each one looming back at her with an array of long and confusing words. One button was going on about a ' _hyperspeed thruster capacitor_ ', and another was detailing a ' _gigatransfuser converter_ '. But, the one that caught her eye the most, was the one that read ' _hingeless wall divider_ '.

Sounded like a fancy word for 'pretty cool door' to her...

Smirking confidently, the AVL agent leaned over and slammed her palm upon the button, electing a small beep sound to blurt from the panel. Sure enough, the wall to her right whirred and opened up, acting exactly like a sliding door.

The instant the wall started to open, Dru's squealing and Jack's punching died down at speed, to be replaced with unsuspecting, yet relieving, confusion. They turned to Lucy and smiled thankfully, who met their gazes with an expression of content. But, upon remembering the situation and the possible threat of being sent far into the reaches of space, they were yet again overtaken with urgency.

Running at pace, the three darted through the ' _hingeless wall divider_ ' and quickly inspected their next location, hoping sincerely to find the escape. However, after being met by a hallway of around thirty other ' _hingeless wall dividers_ ', evidently presenting themselves with outlines you could only see from the outside, they couldn't hold back their deep sigh of dismay.

"Yep, of course..." Dru sulked out loud, rolling his eyes. "Just our luck."

"Well, come on, let's not just stand here!" Lucy yelled, sprinting away from them to begin the search. "We gotta find an escape!"

Following on, Dru and Jack joined in, and the next few minutes or so wasn't very fun for the trio. They ran from wall to wall, activating each and every ' _hingeless wall divider_ ' to inspect the rooms behind them, desperately attempting to find a way outside. Unfortunately, each one lead into another identical room to the last, all of which held the exact same control panel from before.

Eventually, only one door remained, and seeing that the others just held exact clones of the room they woke up in, the three didn't have high hopes. They grouped around the final room, giving each other very solemn looks, wishing dearly that this ' _hingeless wall divider_ ' would finally provide them with a way out.

"Well...here we are." Lucy remarked, her head falling downcast. "The final one. If this is just another control room, then we're pretty much doomed."

"What a mess..." Dru responded, pressing his hands firmly on his head, as if he was trying with all of his will to hold in a meltdown.

"Well, look, this could be a whole lot worse." Jack stated with a shrug. "At least the girls are safe at the house..."

Approaching and pressing the nearby button, the three watched as the wall slowly opened up and provided access to the final room. However, they certainly weren't expecting to see a trio of childlike gazes turn and stare back at them fearfully, instantly stunning the three of them...

"Oh, for god's sake..." Jack exclaimed, audibly sighing.

"GIRLS!"

"MOM!"

Not wasting a single moment, Lucy and her three daughters jumped up and sprinted into each other with a really tight hug, pure fear being the catalyst. For a few seconds, there was just silence, as they relished the embrace that they really needed at this moment. But, once their thoughts started kicking back in, that silence was abruptly broken.

"What's going on!?" Margo inquired, tearing away from her mother to look around in panic. "Like...I... _has DAD kidnapped us_!?"

"No, no...it isn't him..." Lucy replied, her voice a mere husk when compared to her earlier more focused tone. "Some bad people took him and then some stuff happened and...now it looks like we've _all_ been kidnapped."

"Well, yeah, _obviously_!" Edith exclaimed, crossing her arms with a frown. "Some spikey-haired guy broke in and took us! _And_ knocked out _Dr. Nefario_!"

The tomboy pointed across the room to the elderly scientist, who was still concentrating fully on pushing buttons on the control panel, clearly uninterested in consoling the girls. Lucy, who felt totally helpless now, sighed heavily and reached into her back pocket, taking out the paralysis serum she stole from Vector earlier in the living room.

"I can't believe I didn't stop that little brat earlier..." She spoke, staring at the vial with an intense gaze. Maybe she was going insane, but it felt like the object was glaring back and mocking her, reminding her continuously of her prior mistake back at the house. "Why did I have to be so _stupid_!?"

Angrily, she loosened her grip and allowed the serum to drop to the floor, awaiting the smashing sound as it struck the metal ground. However, instead of shattering, the glass vial instead bounced off the floor, rolling away a little.

Perplexed, Margo reached out and grabbed it, inspecting both the label and the contents intently. It must have come from Dr. Nefario's lab, since it had clearly been made using indestructible glass, something the scientist found useful when surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of minions...

That explained where Vector got it from.

"Mommy, where _are_ we?" Agnes muttered quietly, looking up at her with a wide-eyed stare. The more Lucy looked into those frightened puppy-dog eyes, the more she wanted to rip that big guy's head off.

"Where astronauts live, sweetie..." She answered, putting an arm around the small girl to comfort her a little. It was proving to be of some help. "In a _biggggg_ rocket-ship."

"And _that's_ why we gotta get moving!" Jack exclaimed, as both him and Dru ran over to them with similar strides of trepidation. "Not just sitting around talking and wasting time!"

"What's even de point, Jack!?" Dru squealed angrily, turning to the teenager with an irate expression. "We've checked every single door een dis _stupeed_ rocket! Dere ees no escape _anywhere_!"

"Well, we can't just give up!" Jack yelled back, holding out his arms defensively. "Otherwise, we're gonna get sent up into spac-"

However, before the teen could finish his sentence, the room started to shake violently, sending a few pieces of furniture toppling to the floor. Right after letting out a multitude of terrified screams, the family quickly gathered into a hug, preparing themselves for take-off. However, after a few frightening seconds, the shaking came to an unexpected stop, making the six of them open their eyes out of pure confusion.

"Are we dead?" Edith questioned aloud, her inquiry being completely genuine. Considering the sudden and abrupt halt, she was a little unsure.

"Sorry, that was me." Nefario apologized, holding his hands up in a guilty-like fashion. "For some reason, the ' _open stair shaft_ ' button makes the whole room shake."

For a moment, the family simply frowned and crossed their arms, chastising him internally for giving them such a scare. But, once she'd fully interpreted his response, Lucy's head rose up at speed.

"Wait...the _WHAT_ button!?"

"Uh...' _open stair shaft_ '. I thought I'd give it a press, but...it doesn't look like it does anything but give you a big 'ol scare."

Her eyes widening, Lucy stood up and sprinted over to the control panel, where she analyzed every button closely. Sure enough, the aforementioned button was right there, staring up at her like a diamond in a mineshaft. Turning to the rest of her family with a momentary gaze of hope, the AVL agent raced back out of the room again, and to her gleeful surprise, the floor at the end of the hallway had opened up to reveal a set of spiraling stairs.

A huge smile spreading across her face, Lucy sighed happily and turned back around, motioning her family forward through the divided wall.

"Come on, guys! Let's get outta this big metal dump!"

Sighing with relief, the rest of them jumped up and followed the redhead out of the room, making their way for the spiral stairs. As they began their descent into the floor, the whole family found themselves surrounded by a multitude of metal beams and multi-colored wires, as the stair shaft around them slowly got darker and darker.

Eventually, a small spot of light presented itself, and after another second or two, they all emerged into another hallway. However, this time, it was much smaller and only occupied by a single, oddly shaped metal door. Inside of it was a tiny glass window, and to their complete relief, the outside world was stretched out behind it.

As everyone else turned to each other with a hopeful smile, Jack ran over and quickly pressed the button beside it, waiting for the door to open up. However, instead of providing what they all desperately wanted, that being the open fresh air, a small red light began flashing periodically, accompanied by a robotic female voice.

 _"FOR SAFETY REASONS, THIS DOOR CAN ONLY BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE. PLEASE CONTACT A MEMBER OF STAFF VIA THE CONTROL PANEL IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE THE SPACECRAFT. THANK YOU."_

Staring at the button in disbelief for a few seconds, Jack hoped sincerely that he'd just misheard the robotic message. Surely they weren't this unlucky? Surely...something was wrong. Maybe this was just some form of safety precaution, and this message played simply to stop people accidentally leaving the rocket while it was in orbit...or something like that.

Glancing back at his family for a moment, who were giving him hopeful yet questioning looks, Jack felt a horrible feeling of doubt overtake him. This was the only escape on the whole rocket. It just _had_ to work! Though he knew he was grasping at a theory that made little to no sense, he pressed the button again anyway, his heart-rate accelerating to the same frightened rate it was beating at earlier.

 _"FOR SAFETY REASONS, THIS DOOR CAN ONLY BE OPENED FROM THE OUTSIDE. PLEASE CONTACT A MEMBER OF-"_

Angrily, the teen growled under his breath and slammed his hand on the button multiple times, threatening to break the small device.

 _"FOR SAFETY REAS...FOR SAFETY REAS...FOR SAF...FOR...FOR...FOR-"_

Eventually, when he concluded that the message was going to just replay over and over no matter how many times he punched the button, Jack practically screamed with rage and slammed his fist on the door, hammering at the window aggressively. Unfortunately, it seemed that it had been made with a type of enforced glass, so no matter how much he stood there punching it, there wasn't a chance on earth it was going to break.

Finally, when the teen's fist was just about to crumble out of pain, he anguishly groaned, slumped up against the door and placed his hands upon his head, completely defeated. The whole family watched him do so apprehensively, unsure of what was happening and why the door was still closed.

"Jack?" Margo questioned, as she and her sisters approached him slowly. Hearing her voice, the teen elected to keep his head down, in order to hide the look of total uncertainty spread across his features. He hated facing defeat, especially when it concerned his and his family's life, but now, he was officially out of ideas. "Why...why is the door not open yet?"

After a few seconds, Jack finally lifted his head and looked at his sisters, and right after glancing momentarily at Lucy and Dru with a helpless look, confirmed their worst fear.

"We're stuck." He spoke, putting his head down again. "It's...it's locked."

"B-But...what if the rocket _takes off_!?" Edith questioned, holding her arms out irritatingly, as if the teen didn't realize the consequence of not escaping and needed to be informed. Holding back a few tears, the eighteen-year-old looked up at his little sister for a second, giving her a totally petrified expression, before turning to Lucy with the exact same look.

"Did the AVL teach you how to break down locked, impenetrable doors?" He asked. Lucy glanced at the door momentarily, inspecting the very thick layer of pure steel and titanium, before meeting the teen's gaze solemnly.

"It wasn't in the training manual..."

* * *

As the doors slowly opened, Perkins and Vector exited the elevator and strolled through an expansive hallway, one that was full to the brim of different doors and rooms. A few staircases stood either side of the long interior, leading up to yet another floor full of other rooms, other doors, and even an exit leading out to the expansive outside area, where the rockets and a few other buildings stood.

It was so big and confusing, that Vector couldn't help but feel just a little intimidated, simply because he was fearful of getting lost if something went wrong. What if the US army arrived and the two needed to leave at the risk of losing their lives? Chances are, he'd be left totally helpless in a huge perplexing building, with the route of escape being more difficult to solve than a Rubix cube.

For whatever reason, Vector felt like his dad wouldn't be of too much help in that situation, since as long as he was safe, then why on earth would he care about his son's well-being?

In contrast, Perkins didn't look at all concerned about the massive array of rooms, doors, and hallways. In fact, he was finding the route to his desired destination pretty easily, displaying truly how much research he'd conducted on this place. Vector had to question how long he'd been planning to go through with this kidnapping Gru and shooting his family into space scheme.

Eventually, the two reached a small grey door near the end of the hallway, which held a sign that read 'Control Rooms 4A-4Z'. Through that door was yet another much smaller hallway, one of which that twisted around at an odd angle, the walls lined with dozens of doors that lead to different control rooms. Perkins lead the way to a seemingly random one, however, judging on how concise this plan had been so far, Vector had a feeling that it had been specifically chosen.

Inside, a slightly smaller room with a few control panels, some pieces of furniture, and a large window surrounded the father and son. With an excited grin, Perkins moved over to a nearby chair and slumped down onto it contentedly, letting out a satisfied sigh. It seemed his plan was going to go through without a hitch. Every single thing was in place, and at this point, not even his useless son could mess things up.

Meanwhile, Vector wandered over to the large window at the end of the room at a slow pace, deciding to catch a look of the rocket. It was clear why his dad had chosen this room now, since the view from here was absolutely perfect for watching the take-off.

Vector watched as the rocket simply stood there magnificently, walkways and scaffolding surrounding it, looking prime and ready to fly high into the stars...

"So...uh...dad?" The young villain spoke, not taking his eyes off the huge space vehicle. "I've been meaning to ask, how are you gonna make that thing take off?"

"All taken care of, Victor." Perkins responded, shuffling around in the seat, attempting to get comfortable. At this point, Vector decided to turn around and face his father, his expression curled into one of discontent. "Fullbyte has full control over this entire base's computer system. All it takes is one phone call and that huge hunk of metal will leave this planet in no time."

"I...see." Vector replied simply, spinning back around to cast yet another look over the rocket. For whatever reason, it seemed to get taller and taller with every new glance. Maybe it's size was correlating with his level of fear.

He didn't know why, but ever since the reveal that Gru's family were now inside of it, he was feeling incredibly uncomfortable. He deduced that they were all probably fearful at the moment, and for some undeterminable reason, he found that fact a little upsetting. Prior to Jack's portrayal of actual human decency towards him, he probably would've found this situation as fun and exciting as his father was finding it...

Or...would he? Maybe, this entire time, he'd simply been tricking himself. Maybe he'd subconsciously feigned enjoyment and ruthlessness, in order to try and impress his already ashamed father.

Maybe...he didn't actually need to impress him anymore.

Realizing that he was probably overthinking this, Vector shook himself out of his thoughts and concentrated on the rocket again, continuing to analyze each and every detail. It looked a lot more dreary and miserable now, since the sky behind it had begun filling up with dark grey rain clouds, the only piece that had been missing from this already morbid puzzle.

"So...Gru's family are... _really_ on there?"

"They sure are. Bandit went and snatched the rest of them." Perkins explained, spinning in his chair as he snatched intrigued looks upon the many control panels surrounding him. Though the words that labeled them were almost completely unreadable, the bank owner still found it immensely interesting. "He's really made this whole thing so much easier. I have to admit, it's really been strange having that thug on the team. I guess I'm just not used to working with someone who isn't completely useless..."

A frown quickly enveloping his features, Vector turned around at speed and shot his father a very darkened look, his fists tightly balling together. He was really getting sick and tired of being put down by Perkins. For whatever reason, his father's words were seeming more and more unbearable, as if a prior layer of obedient fear had been stripped from him.

He really didn't know how many more insults he could take...

"Well, I think it's time we have some fun now, don't you?" Perkins started, turning around to face his son, seeming completely oblivious to the death stare he was giving him. The large man fished into his pocket and took out his cellphone, which he immediately flipped open, something that made Vector subconsciously take a step forward out of pure fear. "Once we've set the rocket off, killed Gru, and got the hell outta here, you can come back to the bank with me. It's probably gonna take some time to teach you how to run it once I'm gone, considering how stupid you can be with that sorta thing."

Growing, Vector stormed over to his father at speed, and to the bank owner's almost cataclysmic shock, he slapped the phone out of his hand with a venomous strike, sending it to the floor at speed. The device clattered into pieces the second it hit the hard tiled floor, wires, and shards of metal being sent sprawling across the room.

Unable to respond for a few seconds, Perkins simply stood there, staring at the destroyed phone in absolute shock. Then, once his brain caught up and realized exactly what just happened, the bank owner slowly turned to Vector, whose whole face was red with rage, and spoke with almost a whisper.

"You...you just broke my phone..."

"You're _DAMN_ right, I did!" Vector yelled, getting in his father's face, no inch of fear present in his expression. "I am so _SICK_ of your stupid, little insults! Why can't you _FOR ONCE_ just shut the hell up!? Is it so hard to treat me like _A SON_!? In fact, is it so hard to treat like a _HUMAN BEING_!? Not like some simple-minded insect that can't interpret _FEELINGS_! I mean, WHY CAN'T YOU _FOR ONCE_ JUST BE MY DA-"

Vector was interrupted by Perkins's vice grip, as it curled around the young man's neck and sent him up into the air, cutting off his air supply instantly.

"Don't...you... _EVER_...speak to me like that." The man growled demonically, his teeth gritted together harshly. He rapidly started tightening his grip around Vector's neck, attempting with all of his will to suffocate his own son right then and there. Getting desperate, the young man started ferociously kicking, hoping somehow he could make his father let go. "You wanna know why I don't treat you like a son? Because, to me, you're just an inconvenience. All you ever do is waste away your pathetic little life, playing those stupid video games instead of learning how to become a _VILLAIN_! You're the most worthless lump of dirt to ever grace this planet. You mean absolutely _NOTHING_ to me. I should've known that getting you involved in this plan was a bad idea. I should've known that you were just _TOO INEPT_ to ever carry on with this villainy thing. I SHOULD'VE KNOWN THAT YOU WERE-"

Finally, as he used every morsel of strength that he had left, Vector sent a powerful kick right into Perkins's sensitive spot, making the large man drop to the floor in pain. As he barely managed to land onto his feet, Vector breathed in a very quick intake of oxygen, before spinning around and darting out of the room at pace. Growling with rage, Perkins gradually got to his feet and chased after him, jogging with a painful limp.

As Vector sprinted past the array of different control rooms and out into the huge hallway, making his way for the back exit, Bandit was coming from the opposite direction, watching him run away in confusion. A second later, Perkins emerged from the control room hallway with a devilish look of ire, quickly spinning to his spikey-haired associate the moment that he laid eyes on him.

"Quick, chase after him!" He stated demandingly, pointing towards his son as he tried to ignore the pain spreading around his private parts. "Snap that little urchin's neck!"

Grinning excitedly, Bandit quickly nodded and chased after the former villain without any need for explanation, just as Vector made his way up the stairs and onto the outside walkways...

* * *

The family sat against the wall inside the rocket's hallway, holding their heads down in defeat. Obviously frightened, Agnes had her head lulled against Lucy's side, searching intently for a source of comfort. Lucy was trying her hardest to provide that, but considering that she was having problems dealing with her own fear, it was proving to be quite a difficult task.

Dr. Nefario had spent a little while messing around with the locked door, trying to find some way to force it open or destroy it. However, judging on the fact that they were still all stuck inside the large rocket ship, the elderly scientist was obviously having a bit of trouble.

Meanwhile, the rest of them sat near each other in total silence, thoughts consumed by both terror and desperation. Though they knew escape was practically impossible at this point, that didn't stop them from wracking their minds at haste, different solutions to this situation popping in and out of their heads periodically.

Unfortunately, each one of those solutions involved magic spells or some other form of fictional force, so somehow, they deduced that those ideas probably wouldn't work right now...

Letting out a rough sigh, which was the first sound that had been made by anyone for the last five minutes, Margo turned and sent her older brother a frown, digging into him with her gaze as if it was some sort of laser.

"This is all your fault, Jack!" She stated harshly, her tone sounding entirely unforgiving. The eighteen-year-old turned to her for a moment with the exact same frown, ready to quickly fire back with a response. But, after realizing that he couldn't really refute her point, put his head back down silently in defeat. "If you hadn't yelled at dad or trusted Vector, we would all be safe right now!"

"Yes, Margo, thanks for the newsflash." He replied quietly, not turning away from his feet. His glare was both fierce with rage and clouded with sorrow, a concoction of an expression that made him look absolutely awful.

"I mean, why would you ever let Vector go!? That's probably the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

"It's called giving someone a chance..."

"But he's a bad guy! He does _evil_ stuff, hence the name ' _evil_ villain'! Why would you ever think that's a good idea!?"

"Because you all did the same for _me_!" Jack yelled, finally turning to face the twelve-year-old at speed, something that caught her a little off-guard. "Even though I had done a bunch of evil stuff when I was growing up, _you_ still gave me a chance with a good life! In fact, you did the same for _Gru_ as well! Just because you're _born_ into a life of villainy, Margo, doesn't mean you automatically _are_ a villain!"

Margo's frown finally started to ease away slightly, to be replaced with a look of intrigue. What he said kind of made sense to her, but at the same time, she had to question why Jack would suddenly start treating Vector with kindness, even though he was showing some very clear signs of _actually_ being a villain.

He appeared right around when Gru completely vanished, he seemingly held little to no remorse for anyone, and he even tried to take out his handgun when initially seeing the family on that motel road. Based on all of that, why would Jack _ever_ give him a chance?

Before Margo had the chance to interrogate him, it seemed that the teen had figured out the question through his sister's befuddled expression and answered it quickly.

"Look...Vector told me all this stuff when I was interrogating him. He said that his dad has been pressuring him into becoming a villain and that he doesn't really want to do it. He was talking about how disappointed his dad is with him because of how he turned out. It's clear that he hates his father a tonne and...it just reminded me of...well, _me_!" With a really disappointed sigh, the teen turned his head away solemnly and stared at the floor, a mix of anger and sadness enveloping his expression. "But...I guess I was wrong. He must've just been tricking me or something. It seems that Vector really _is_ a bad guy..."

And then, to everyone's absolute and utter shock, the locked door suddenly beeped and opened, sending a strong waft of fresh air into the stuffy rocket hallway. The whole family quickly turned in surprise and squinted under the new source of light, which obstructed their vision for a few seconds.

But, once everyone's eyes had finally adjusted, the person who stood there in the open doorway also shocked them to an equal degree...

"Uh...hey." Vector greeted awkwardly, putting his hand up in a very small, short wave.

Her vicious frown being instantly reborn, Lucy stood up from the floor and dashed over to the young man, who panicked a little and stepped backward. He considered turning and sprinting away, but before he had the chance to fully decide, the AVL agent grabbed him by the collar and completely restricted his movement.

"You whiny, pathetic piece of..." She growled angrily, threatening to tear the fabric of his shirt with her ferocious grip. Vector felt the urge to cry or tear up in some fashion, total fright being the reason why. "Did your _dad_ tell you to come down here and kill us!? Did he say to come and trick us into _trusting_ you again!? Well, guess what, _WE AIN'T FALLING FOR IT_!?"

"No, no, I swear, I've come to rescue you!" Vector yelled pleadingly, putting his hands up in surrender as he felt Lucy's grip strengthen. She was giving him an exceedingly doubtful look, and based on the anger that was gradually building up in her eyes, Vector had to say something persuasive really quickly if he wanted to avoid being beaten to a pulp. "My dad's going insane and I...I got away from him and...and...your husband's upstairs in the building and...he's in a lot of trouble, and he...he _REALLY_ needs your help!"

At the mention of her husband, Lucy's anger instantly faded, making her death grip on Vector's collar loosen tenfold. Clearly unsure of what to do, the AVL agent simply stared at him for a little while, thoughts and doubts spinning around her head like a blender.

She really didn't want to listen to this guy again, considering that he had already proved himself as untrustworthy. But, at the same time, she really wanted to save her husband, and this was the first time his location had been told to her for a long while. Even though something didn't exactly seem right to her, she had to question why on earth Vector would ever save them from the rocket and allow them to potentially escape, just to inform them that Gru needed help.

Unless he was actually trying to rescue them...

Undeniably petrified, Lucy let go of Vector and glared at him for a short while, unsure of what to say or do. Likewise, Vector glared back, though his expression was bundled with a lot of fear. It was odd, but something about the way she threatened him was extremely frightening, a form of fear he'd only really felt from his father...

Turning around, Lucy shot the rest of her family a small glance, displaying truly how doubtful she felt. In response, Margo gave her a ' _please think about this_ ' look, something that almost forced her to apprehend Vector again to appease her. But, she knew that was a bad idea, since Vector was the only one who knew where Gru was...

...and she needed to save her husband.

"Stay close to the girls." She instructed nervously, directing the command to Dru and Jack, who both nodded apprehensively in response. Turning back to the young man, Lucy motioned her head forward, ensuring to keep a very aggressive frown plastered to her face. "Come on then, pip-squeak, lead the way..."

Letting out a small relieved sigh, Vector nodded rapidly and spun around, making his way back outside. With the three adults keeping a very close eye on the small man, the rest of the family followed on behind, traversing over the high walkway and through the expansive NASA exterior.

"Woah, Jack, look at that rocket!" Edith exclaimed, grabbing her brother's hand and pointing across to another larger version of the aforementioned spacecraft, her expression brightening up a bit now that she'd gotten outside. "It's so _big_!"

"Edith, look, it _is_ pretty cool and all, but..." Jack began tiredly, looking down at the ten-year-old girl with a listless look, instead of the rocket ship she seemed so invested in. "I'm _really_ sick of rockets..."

In total silence, the family slowly made their way for the back entrance to the NASA main building, the interior being eerily quiet. There wasn't a single sign of human life anywhere on the premises, which was absolutely baffling, considering the circumstances. Surely, some form of backup should've arrived by now...

"We need to be really careful," Vector warned, his line of sight spinning around the whole area at speed. "I managed to get away from my dad, but I doubt he's gonna let me go that easily..."

Just as Lucy was going to question him about what actually happened with his father, a thuggish muscled brute jumped from behind a nearby pillar with a venomous frown, blocking the family from entering the building with his large, intimidating figure. They all gasped in shock and immediately stepped back, watching as the man's fiery expression grew even more deathly.

At that point, a sudden blast of thunder sounded in the sky, and shortly after, the rain started pouring heavily from the dark grey clouds above...

"Great...just on cue." Vector muttered, his voice quivering out of sudden fright.

Without the need to be told, the three sisters quickly hid behind Dru and Jack for some form of protection, as Bandit stared the eight of them down with a satisfied grin. Stepping towards them, the huge man thundered his fist into his palm, obviously itching to start the series of poundings.

However, the moment he started approaching, Lucy reacted almost instantly and kicked Bandit hard in his abdomen, making him jolt backward out of pain. It was clear he wasn't expecting it to actually hurt, but judging on the way he was struggling to stay upright, he had really underestimated her.

"Quick! Get the girls to safety!" Lucy called behind her, ensuring to keep her eyes locked on to her enemy. Dru and Jack didn't need to be told twice, and they quickly dragged the girls, Vector and Nefario past the temporarily disabled thug, leading them into the building.

"Come on, Nerfroid!" Dru commanded desperately, almost making the elderly man stumble to the floor as he dragged him by his arm. "We gotta go quick!"

"Steady, steady!" Nefario yelled, trying his hardest to keep up. "My legs aren't what they used to be!"

Just as Vector was about to enter the NASA building with the rest of the Gru family, he momentarily cast a look back at Lucy, who was obviously preparing herself for a fight. The AVL agent watched as the muscled man recovered and got to his feet, seeming beyond irate. She analyzed her opponent closely, attempting to decipher a solution to beat him, but as she lost herself in a small thought process, Bandit thundered forward at an unexpected speed and tackled Lucy to the ground.

As he laid on top of her, staring dead into her eyes with a hugely vicious glare, Lucy ferociously squirmed and pushed upwards, trying to get Bandit off of her. However, it seemed that it was her who had underestimated this time, since he was _A LOT_ stronger than she'd originally thought. It was like having a wrestling match with a tank.

Letting out a vicious growl, the brute let go slightly and latched his arms around her neck hard, strangling her with a tonne of strength. As she desperately tried to breathe, Lucy could do nothing as Bandit lifted her into the air, making his way for the edge of the walkway, where the fatal drop over the edge was waiting for her...

"MOM!" Margo yelled at the top of her lungs, running forward in a mindless attempt to help. Reacting quickly, Jack leaped forward and grabbed his sister before she ran out into danger, as the twelve-year-old ferociously pushed back and tried to free herself.

"Margo, no, _stop_!"

"NO! NO! LET ME GO! _PLEASE_!"

Realizing what was about to happen, Dru quickly got down and covered Edith and Agnes's eyes, as those two were frozen in the spot out of total shock. He wracked his brain at speed, attempting to acquire some form of solution to this situation. But, there wasn't a chance he or Jack could get to Bandit to stop him now, since they were already inside and way too far away...

"HEY!" A young, mostly unthreatening voice yelled. Only a short distance away from the edge, Bandit come to a stop and turned around, glaring at Vector out of both confusion and unbridled rage. Not expecting him to actually look at him, Vector now fell silent, unsure of his next move. He needed to think of a solution quickly, but with that demonic like threatening look, his mind struggled to think straight.

However, as he noticed the litter of tattoos that lined his arms, the fact that half of his teeth were missing from his mouth, and the general, far away look he always seemed to possess, Vector realized that this guy was pretty unintelligent.

Surely, it wouldn't be too difficult to outsmart him...

"Look, I'm escaping!" Vector mocked, sprinting back down the walkway at speed. "I'm gonna get _awayyyy_!"

Growling under his breath, Bandit quickly spun his body and chased after him, letting go of and seemingly completely forgetting Lucy. Due to his massive leg muscles, the thug was easily catching up to the young man, and panic soon started rising in Vector's chest, unsure of what to do or how to escape.

Bandit was now so close to him that he had his arm extended out, in preparation to grab the former villain's neck and throw him off the edge, just as he was about to do to Lucy. To make matters worse, a right-angled turn in the walkway was fast approaching, and he was going to have to spin around at an impossible speed if he wanted to avoid being caught.

At this point, Vector was so incredibly frightened, that he never noticed the huge puddle that had built up on the floor of the already slippery walkway, and he couldn't stop himself before his legs gave out and he fell to the floor in a sprawling mess.

Thankfully though, Bandit couldn't react in time either, and the brute helplessly tripped over Vector's fallen body, sending him flying through the air and over the edge of the walkway at speed.

A deep, thunderous yell penetrated the air, but after a short while, it was abruptly cut out...

For a few seconds, Vector couldn't believe what had happened. Out of slight shock, he simply laid helpless on the floor for a little while, staring at the metal floor of the walkway in confusion. Had he just done that? Had he just managed to actually _beat_ someone? Surely not. Surely, Bandit had survived that or had somehow stopped himself from falling over the edge. But, sure enough, as Vector spun his gaze around, Bandit was nowhere to be seen.

He would've looked over the edge to confirm his death, but he had never really been a fan of gore, even if his father found that trait shameful...

Leaving the building and running out onto the walkway, the family made their way over to Lucy, who was still laying painfully on the floor. Without hesitation, Dru quickly leaned down and shook her arm, obviously very fearful for her well-being. Considering how tight he'd been strangling her, it wouldn't be a shock if she was...

"Lucy! Lucy! Are yoo okay!?" He exclaimed, panic laced evidently in his voice. Fortunately, though, the AVL agent groaned and turned around, looking up at the rest of them with a pained look. However, once she spied the terrified faces of her precious little daughters, it didn't take long for her pain to lose its priority.

She quickly dragged the girls in for a hug, wrapping her arms tight around their small frames. They buried their heads into her shoulder instantly, absorbing the comfort they really needed, as a few tears fell from their eyes. There was simply silence for a little while, since that was all that was needed.

But, once it was confirmed that Lucy was definitely okay and still alive, that silence was broken...

"We thought you were gonna..." Margo's spoke quietly, her voice quickly trailing off. The pain in her voice hurt Lucy's heart to no end, something she wanted to soothe as soon as possible.

"Come on, don't you remember who I am?" She replied jokingly, separating the hug and giving the girls a wide smile, something that they couldn't help but reciprocate through their tears. "You know I always find a way out..."

"Well, on that topic..." Jack spoke, kneeling down to Lucy and the girl's level. As the four of them gave him an odd questioning look, the teen motioned his head down the walkway, directing their attention over to Vector.

The young man was walking back towards them with an apprehensive look, as if he was very nervous about something indeterminable. Once the whole family turned towards him, he came to a very quick stop, as if a spotlight had just shone down upon him at speed. He couldn't help but gulp and rub the back of his neck awkwardly, totally unsure of what to say or do.

Slowly, Lucy got back to her feet and made her way over to him, a smile plastered brightly across her face. Vector, feeling his heart-rate almost triple, turned his head away at speed and avoided eye-contact, his expression molded into one of shame.

"Look, I'm really really sorry that he came after us and I know I should've told you about him earlier but I didn't know that my dad had sent him to get us since I thought he would be too busy trying to find a way to set the rocke-"

"Thank you." Lucy interrupted, lightly grabbing Vector's arm. Stunned, the young man turned back to look at her, unsure if he'd just heard correctly. Once he spied the extremely grateful smile on the AVL agent's face, he was provided with confirmation.

"You're _AWESOME_ , Vector!" Edith exclaimed, appearing from behind her mother and fist-pumping the air joyfully.

"Yeah, you're not a scary pajama-man anymore," Agnes added, also popping up from behind her. "You're a _nice_ pajama-man now."

"Oh...uh..." Vector replied, pulling a look of confusion at first, before it was eventually replaced with a humorous smile. "Thanks."

"How did you even do that?" Jack questioned, as he and Dru walked over to stand beside Lucy, the both of them giving Vector an elated grin. "I mean, all you did was shout and he just looked... _brainwashed_!"

"Well, I knew my dad would've told him to go after _me_ specifically," He explained. "And knowing how ridiculously stupid these hired thugs can be, I knew he would've only concerned himself with the order he was given. I thought maybe he would've completely forgotten about Lucy if I started getting away. Looks like I was... _right_."

"Nice job, Vectro!" Dru exclaimed at a high-decibel level, slapping his arm energetically. "Dat was some super smart theenkeeng!"

Though Dru's high-pitched crazy voice was very grating, since he was nowhere near used to it yet, Vector couldn't ignore the huge sense of pride and achievement that he was feeling. He couldn't remember the last time a group of people were looking at him with thankful, impressed smiles, and now that it was happening, he couldn't deny how much he loved it.

However, there was one person who still seemed apprehensive, and that was the eldest girl. She was stood well behind the rest of them, looking very uncomfortable and saddened. It was as if his presence was disturbing her, and because of that, Vector suddenly felt a lot more disappointed with himself again.

However, he didn't have very long to dwell on that, since the elderly scientist from that lab came over and handed them all a concerned expression.

"Well, I hate to interrupt...whatever this is," He stated impatiently. "But Gru could be in serious trouble! We gotta go find him _right now_ , before that bank owner gets to him first."

"You're right." Lucy stated, her voice containing a lot less cheer than it had done before. Turning around, the AVL agent made her way back towards the NASA building, seeming a lot more focused and determined than she had before her husband's name was mentioned. "Come on, guys. Let's go save Gru."

The family followed behind her and headed through the back entrance, while Vector took a moment to think before doing the same. With his head down, the young man wandered down the metal walkway silently, staring at the floor with a downcast expression. The rain that poured down his back seemed to perfectly suit the shame he felt inside.

"Uh...Vector?" A small voice spoke up, sounding a little quiet and nervous. Vector lifted his head and spied Margo just in front of him, standing just inside the NASA building with her head down in a very similar fashion. For a moment, she didn't say anything, as if she was mentally preparing herself for something difficult. But, soon enough, she raised her head and spoke to him directly, that previous saddened look entirely gone. " _Thanks_."

After that, she quickly turned around and kept up with the rest of her family, who were now making their way down the stairs. On the other hand, Vector remained completely still on the walkway outside, seeming entirely oblivious to how soaking wet he was getting.

Now, as a warm smile spread across his face, the rain didn't seem to suit as perfectly as it had before...

* * *

The family trudged through the huge NASA hallway, everyone marveling at the sheer size of the interior. There were so many doors leading to new rooms, that counting them all could take a long, long while. They had to question why this building had to be so ridiculously huge. Why was there a need to have so many control rooms? How many things needed to be controlled?

But, judging on the fact that Gru was still technically missing and could be in a lot of danger right now, they really didn't have the time to question it.

"This is it." Vector stated, coming to an abrupt stop to point at one of the nearby elevators. There wasn't anything particularly special about this one, so why Perkins chose it to hold Gru in, he would never know. Maybe it being so random and inconspicuous worked in its favor. "Last I checked, this should take us to Gru."

"Let's hope that hasn't changed..." Lucy commented, glancing at the rest of her family fearfully, who returned the exact same expression. Though there was a glimmer of hope in the girls' eyes now, you definitely couldn't miss the frightened look that still dominated their faces. Until Gru was rescued and they were all back in the safety of their home, she had a feeling that that look wouldn't subside. "Right! Here's the plan. Me, Dru, Jack and Vector will go up and save Gru, and then find a way out later. Meanwhile, Nefario, you take the girls and try and find a way out now, so that they're safe. Everyone got that?"

"That's not fair!" Edith exclaimed, crossing her arms. "You guys always make us stay behind! We wanna come up and save dad!"

"Gurls, please don't do dis again." Dru muttered frustratingly, looking both worried and very fatigued. "We've explained a million times, eet's way too dangerous!"

"We don't care!" Margo stated demandingly. "We're not going anywhere until we've got dad back!"

"Girls, look at me." Lucy spoke soothingly, slowly kneeling down to their level. The girls shot their irritated expressions to their mother, who seemed anything but angry. Instead, she just looked sad. "I...I _just_ almost lost you three forever...I _really_ don't wanna risk losing you again." The girls' anger quickly died down at this, to be swapped out for the exact same sorrow that Lucy held. "Please... _please_...just go with Nefario and get somewhere safe. I don't want you to get hurt."

Letting out a small sigh, Margo glanced at her little sisters momentarily, giving them a solemn look, before turning back to Lucy and nodding understandingly.

"Alright..." She muttered, her voice very quiet. She was completely disappointed with being left out, but she was trying her hardest to hide it, since she realized that she was probably making this bad situation even worse with her sulking.

Breaking out into a relieved smile, Lucy leaned over and kissed the three girls individually on the head, before standing up and turning towards the elevator. Sighing, she motioned for the rest of them to follow her inside, but just as they were all about to enter, Jack hastily grabbed Vector's arm and gathered his attention.

"Wait!" He exclaimed, startling the former villain a little. "Before we go up, there's something I need to tell you first."

Vector looked at him with an expression of complete befuddlement, obviously not expecting this in the slightest.

"What?"

Before he continued, Jack momentarily turned away and glanced at the floor, sighing under his breath.

"Look, do you remember what I told you down in the lab? About how my dad tried to destroy the whole US with nukes and kill us all?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Well...it may come to no surprise, but...my dad scared me _a lot_." He explained, his head falling downcast, as if he was ashamed to admit this. Vector couldn't deny that the look on his face was pretty familiar. "Whenever I tried to stand up to him, he would somehow find a way to scare me again. To make me absolutely terrified of letting him down or going against him. And it took a lot of persuasion for me to understand that...I didn't need to be scared. That I didn't need his approval or respect. It was the only way I could actually...stand up to him in the end."

"Oooookay?" Vector replied, his face twisted in pure confusion. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Well...Vector...chances are, you're gonna have to stand up to your dad in a little while, just like I had done." Jack stated bluntly, looking dead into his eyes. "And before you do, you need to remember this."

Vector watched as Jack spoke with the most deadly serious tone he had ever heard him use before.

"Whatever he says to you, _it's a lie_. You're _not_ a failure. You're _not_ completely worthless. And you _don't_ have to be whatever he says you are. What you did for Lucy earlier is possibly one of the most courageous things I've ever seen anyone do. You came up with a very smart solution that none of us would've ever figured out, no matter how hard we tried. I've gotta say, it's one of the most heroic things I've ever seen in my entire life. And when that man says anything degrading to you, I want you to remember that, do you understand?"

Though he heard the words perfectly fine, for whatever reason, Vector was unable to respond for a short while, leaving the huge room locked in an odd silence. He didn't know what to make of what Jack had just said, since never before in his life had someone said something that...encouraging. He felt happy, but for some reason, he didn't possess the ability to smile.

However, though what he was feeling right now was something he couldn't understand nor perceive, there was something that he was very, _very_ certain of...

He was _not_ going to fail.

"I understand." He replied, nodding his head in an almost commanding fashion. Smiling, Jack nodded back, as the four of them entered the elevator with mixed expressions of worry and determination.

"We'll see you in a bit, girls." Lucy called, as the doors began closing with a small 'ding' noise. The three sisters watched them disappear with a feeling of both dread and disappointment above their heads. "We love you!"

Once they'd gone, Nefario didn't waste any time and motioned down the huge hallway, treading forward in a grumpy fashion.

"Come on then, you three. Let's find a way outta this heckhole."

Silently, the girls followed behind begrudgingly, their heads all down in a miserable manner. The floor beneath their feet was so clean and shiny, that they could all see their saddened reflections in it, something they didn't particularly like looking at for too long.

Lifting her head back up, Margo glanced around the huge interior, looking for an easy method of escape. However, instead of finding an escape route, she found a door labeled with something that was equally as useful, and it very quickly ate up her attention.

"Wait!" She exclaimed, startling the rest of them somewhat. They all turned and watched as the twelve-year-old ran off towards one of the doors on the right, seeming very concentrated.

"Hey! Don't go running off! You're gonna get lost!" Nefario yelled in response, however, he made no attempt to catch up with her. Obviously intrigued with what her old sister was up to, Edith followed on behind with a sprint, and it didn't take long for Agnes to join in as well. "Ugh, please don't make this difficult! Your parents will kill me if you get hurt!"

Finally, Margo made it over to her desired door, and just to confirm, the older sister closely analyzed the sign on it. Sure enough, it read 'Power Control', with a 'High Voltage' sign placed just beneath it. Smiling contentedly, Margo turned back around to Nefario and her sisters, the latter of whom were right behind her, and gave them optimistic looks.

"What are you doing?" Edith questioned, switching her intrigued gaze between her and the door. "Why are you looking at a door?"

"Inside here is where all the power for this whole place gets controlled," The twelve-year-old explained, motioning her hand towards the aforementioned sign. "If we can turn it off, the rocket ship's can't be used, and Vector's dad won't be able to use them!"

"Why would he want to use them again?" Edith questioned, seeming very invested in what he sister was thinking. "Wouldn't it just be easier for him to...y'know...hurt them in here?"

"Well, it'll be a lot more difficult if the power is all off." Margo responded. "The light's will go off, he won't be able to contact anyone, and mom and dad can find a way to escape without him even being able to see them."

"Okay..." Edith replied, sharing a confused look with Agnes, who seemed happy enough pretending to know what was going on. "But...what about the elevator? If we turn off the power, it won't work anymore and mom and dad won't be able to leave."

With a hole in her plan being exposed, Margo put her head down in thought and wracked her brain hard, trying to figure out a solution. However, she didn't really need to, since the answer eventually waddled over to them with an aggressive frown.

"Don't run away like that!" Nefario chastised, his voice very rough and tired. "I've already had enough exercise today and I don't need to go around chasing three little girls!"

"Dr. Nefario!" Margo exclaimed commandingly, as if she didn't even hear the scientist's previous sentence. "In about five minutes, do you think you could turn off the power in here and then switch it back on after a little while?"

Perplexed, Nefario glanced at the 'Power Control' sign inquisitively, inspecting the door as if it were some form of machine, before looking back at the girl with a shrug.

"Yes...I can do that, but-"

"Great!" Margo ran forward at pace, signaling for her sisters to follow as she did so. "Come on, you guys!"

Sure enough, Edith and Agnes took a moment to share yet another puzzled glance, before racing away to keep up with their elder sister. As he watched them dash away at a pace he was never going to manage, Nefario looked absolutely defeated, as if these three girls were proving to be the biggest challenge he'd faced in a long while.

"Hey! What did I just say!?"

* * *

Lucy, Dru, Vector and Jack were completely silent as the elevator ascended, deciding to remain entirely concentrated on the task they were about to face. Three of them were well practiced with these sort of life-threatening situations at this point, and they knew that mindless chit-chat right now could be the thing that costs them their lives.

Of course, Vector wasn't too experienced with high-risk rescue missions, but with all of the determination running through his veins, he really didn't need to be.

After a short amount of time, the elevator let out another 'ding' and the doors opened up, allowing them to gather a view of the room in front of them. Not wanting to waste a single second, the group of four leaped out into the room, scanning their gazes across everything.

Eventually, Lucy caught sight of the disgruntled Gru, as he laid totally inanimate on the floor beside the window, facing away from her. The fear that jolted through her heart almost gave her a coronary.

"GRU!"

She worryingly sprinted over at speed, totally frightened by the fact that he didn't respond. What if they were too late? What if Perkins was one step ahead of them and killed him before they had the chance to rescue him? What if this whole thing had been for absolutely nothing?

When she finally made it over to him, the AVL agent grabbed her husband's arm and swiftly spun him around, hoping that he was still alive. Thankfully, those blue eyes stared right back at him, looking absolutely fatigued and terrified. He was desperately trying to say something to her, but every word he tried to use was completely muffled.

Fortunately for her, the reason he hadn't been responding, was because his mouth had been taped, not because he was...

"Wait..." Vector spoke worryingly, as he and the others quickly followed on and appeared from behind Lucy. "You didn't have tape on your mouth earlier..."

"You really thought it was that easy?" A dark voice muttered, startling the four of them half-to-death. They spun around to find the source, and to their dismay, Perkins emerged from behind a desk, his expression curled up into a venomous grin. As if it was planned, another blast of thunder could be heard outside, and the pelt of the rain against the window added to this already dark situation tenfold. "You really thought you could beat me with just a simple kick to the crotch? Victor, I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were completely mindless."

Swallowing hard, Vector ignored the insulting comment and stepped towards him, trying to erase all forms of fear from his brain.

"Give it up, dad!" He stated defiantly, lifting his head up, as if he was trying to make himself look bigger. "It's five against one! You can't win!"

"Hmm, incorrect again, Victor." Perkins responded, cackling to himself. "You see, it's five against _two_ , now."

"What...what are you-"

"You _REALLY_ thought that my mobile phone was the only way to contact Fullbyte!?" Perkins exclaimed, moving a little closer to them. "My god, you just get stupider by the day! We're at _NASA_ , Victor! There are plenty of telephones around here! It only took me about five minutes to get in contact with him!"

"Well... _so what_!?" Vector responded. "As you can see, I've already rescued them from the rocket, so what is Fullbyte gonna do!?"

"A lot of things..." Perkins replied, grinning and chuckling in a demonic-like fashion yet again. "As I said a few days ago, he's a legend in the villain world. So, it won't be too difficult for him to overload the jet fuel of the rocket ship and make it explode in a huge fiery mushroom cloud, killing all of us in an instant."

"What!?" Vector roared, turning to his new associates in horror, who stared back at him with an equally petrified expression. "But...you're gonna kill _yourself_ as well!"

"If it means I can finally get rid of Gru and save villainy before it's collapse...then so be it." He stated fearlessly, as if death didn't bother him in the slightest. "Besides, since you won't be taking over my bank, it's doomed to fail anyway. What else do I have if I don't have that?"

Feeling the pain in his heart rise, Vector lowered his head and balled his fists together, feeling the vague presence of tears behind his eyes. He really couldn't take this any longer. The constant lack of love and care. The continuous insults and degrading comments. As Jack said, he was worth more than this.

If he was about to die, then this was his last opportunity to say these words...

"You had... _a son_." Vector stated lowly, his teeth gritted together. "You had someone...who was _your own_. You were the one...who was meant to _love me_. If you didn't want to do that...then _WHY_ did you have a son!? _WHY_!? What was the purpose of giving birth to me, if you were just gonna _HATE ME_!?"

" _BELIEF_ , VICTOR!" Perkins exclaimed, staring his down harder than he had ever done before. "I just wanted to _BELIEVE_ that you could become the son I wanted! But, no! I could tell from the beginning that you were just some pansy, pathetic, goody-two-shoes like the rest of these AVL idiots! For a while, you looked like you had _SOME_ form of evil within you. When you kidnapped Gru's daughters and took the moon for yourself, I thought my doubts of the evil inside you were all false! But ever since you _came back_ from the moon, you pretty much confirmed them! You...Victor...are _not_ a villain!"

Turning to Jack for a moment, who was glaring at Perkins with that IVB-exclusive death look, Vector remained silent for a few seconds, evaluating his possible response options. But eventually, when the words that teen had told him earlier came back into his head, his reply came quickly.

"You're _DAMN_ right, I'm not!" He stated confidently, smiling. Perkins, not expecting that response in the slightest, twisted his face in disgust, looking like he'd just witnessed something beyond disturbing. "I guess I'm...a _good guy_! How does that feel, huh!? To know that your own son is a _good guy_!"

"Ugh, you...you know what, _I don't care_!" Perkins exclaimed, strutting over to a nearby desk and picking up the telephone. "Once I've given Fullbyte the signal, this whole place is gonna _BLOW_!"

Just as the four of them were about to leap forward and stop him, the whole room suddenly went completely dark, the only trace of light being the very faint clouded source coming from the windows. With them, all of the computers inside the room shut off as well, quickly proving what had happened...

"Not without power it isn't!" Margo exclaimed, as she and her two sisters stood just in front of the elevator doors, smiling. Again, somehow, no-one had heard them come in, possibly because they were too consumed with the possibility of death by explosion to hear anything around them.

"Girls!?" Lucy exclaimed from within the darkness. "I thought I told you to escape!"

Perkins, who was squinting in the very tame lighting, finally saw the three girls, and as the rage inside him built up, the feeling to go insane and kill everyone himself was dominating every inch of his thoughts.

"What's the matter, huge TV guy?" Edith mocked, putting her hand on her hips teasingly. "Weren't expecting to be beaten by _children_!?"

"Why you little brat..." Perkins growled, dashing towards her angrily. However, after giving her little sister a quick signaling nod, the ten-year-old sprinted away, using a level of pace that would never have been expected from someone so young.

"Edith!?" Jack exclaimed irately, incredibly panicked by his little sister being in danger, especially when he was completely blinded by darkness. "Don't antagonize him! He's gonna hurt you!"

However, if he could actually see them, then he would realize truly how wrong he was. The three sisters, without taking any heed of their brother's warning, quickly moved into different positions, as if this entire scenario had been thought out long before...

Agnes ran forward at a fairly impressive speed and dashed through Perkins's legs, causing the man to lose his footing. If he could actually see, then Agnes might've been in danger, but considering that Perkins was now totally blind, he couldn't steady himself and fell to the floor hard.

Realizing that it was her turn to act, Margo now dashed forward and reached into her pocket, revealing the 'Paralysis Serum' she'd taken from Lucy earlier. With her young eyes, seeing in this low-level lighting was extremely easy, and she found Perkins's floored form within moments.

Undoing the cap, the twelve-year-old poured the serum into the bank owner's mouth, as it instantly took effect and paralyzed him...

For a few seconds, there was just silence inside the blinding darkness, with everyone a little unsure of what exactly was happening. But, after a short while, the power in the building came back on, and the ceiling lights allowed everyone to spy Perkins's completely inanimate body.

Gru, Dru, Lucy, Jack, and Vector all stared down at him in total shock, unsure of what to say or do. For a moment, they thought that they'd just receieved some holy miracle, and some divine being came in and stopped Perkins before he hurt them. But, eventually, the actual answer came to them, and they couldn't help but find that as equally shocking as a miracle.

"Did...did you girls just-" Lucy started, but, her stunned sentence was very quickly interrupted.

"YES! WE _ROCK_!" Edith cheered, as she and her sisters banded together and did a little dance, giggling the entire time.

"We won! We won! We won!" Agnes sang, as they danced around in a circle happily, as if were victorious in a simple playground game.

Still totally flabbergasted, the rest of the family turned to each other, completely speechless. Though it was frightening to think that the girls were just locked in a battle with a vicious bank owner who would've had no qualms in killing all three of them, the fact that they'd come out victorious was extremely impressive.

However, after getting over her complete bout of shock, Lucy turned back to her husband and leaned down, grabbing the tape around his mouth. Speedily, she pulled and ripped it from his face, giving him the freedom to actually talk again.

However, the second he went to open his mouth, nothing came out. When he looked into his wife's eyes, the same wife he yelled at so ferociously at the end of the roadtrip, the same wife he inadvertently divorced, all he could feel was an overtaking sense of guilt. He didn't know what to say, nor did he know if Lucy actually wanted to hear it.

Though it would break his heart beyond repair, he would understand if she didn't forgive him...

However, all of those thoughts were very quickly interrupted, when Lucy leaned down and pressed her lips firmly against Gru's, reminding him exactly what he'd been missing. He only wished he could caress her and pull her in closer, but with his arms still tied around his back, there wasn't much of a chance of that happening.

When they finally broke apart, Lucy stared sadly into Gru's eyes, looking like she was about to cry. Gru hated the sight of her sadness, and every fibre of his being told him to say the most comforting words he could create. However, the female AVL agent beat him to the punch.

"I'm so sorry we've been such a terrible family, Gru." She spoke, her voice cracking up. At this, Dru, Jack and the girls also came to surround them, the teenager moving over to undo the bands around his hands and legs. "I'm so sorry we stressed you out so much. We didn't see how much you...hated your life and...we should've done something to help you."

"Yeah, I...I'm really, really sorry, Gru." Jack added, joining in as he continued undoing the ropes. "I'm sorry I punched that kid in the hotel and got us all kicked out. And I'm sorry that I gave Edith coffee on purpose just to annoy you. And I'm really, really sorry for...saying all those things in the van. It was totally uncool, especially with how stressed out you've been lately, and I should've known better."

"I'm sorry too, brother." Dru continued, leaning down to look into Gru's eyes. "I'm sorry I'm so loud and annoyeeng. I'm sorry I cause so much trouble and complain all the time. And I'm really sorry for not being of any help on dat road treep. I'm such a stupeed idiot."

"I'm sorry for being really loud and silly, daddy." Agnes spoke, clutching onto her father's arm. "I'll be quiet from now on."

"Yeah, and I'm sorry for being annoying all the time and throwing up on the beach." Edith added, doing the exact same. "And for being garbage at maths."

"And I'm sorry for punching that boy in school and getting suspended." Margo stated, being the final sister to cuddle into Gru.

"We've all been really dumb, and..." Lucy said, her voice still wavering solemnly. "And from now, we're all gonna change. We're gonna be the best family we possibly ca-"

"Right, _stop right dere_!" Gru interrupted loudly once Jack had freed him from the rope prison, startling them all. Leaning forward, he grabbed Lucy's hand in his own and cradled it softly, trying to soothe any bad thoughts before they overstayed their welcome. "All of yoo, stop apologizing. Yoo are not a terrible family. Yoo do not stress me out! I love every seengle one of yoo so much, to de bottom of my heart and...I...I don't want any of yoo to change one bit. Eef yoo want me to be happy, den stay exactly how yoo are."

"Then...why did you get so angry at us?" Lucy questioned, tears finally starting to build up in her eyes.

"I...I don't know, honey..." He replied, thinking back to the multiple mental breakdowns and hallucinations he has been having over the past few days. "But I know eet eesn't yoo. Yoo are de absolute best theeng een my life, and I...I'm gonna figure out what's wrong weeth me...for _your_ guys sake."

Smiling with relief, the family wrapped their arms around each other, hugging close to finally kill every remaining bad feeling of fear, sadness, and guilt. They stayed completely silent as they held each other, the want to simply confirm everyone's safety overtaking their want to speak. Eventually, they naturally separated, all giving each other satisfied smiles, the first completely genuine ones they possessed for some time.

"Nice job with Perkeens, gurls." Gru said, pointing over to the motionless form of the bank owner. "I couldn't have done any better myself."

"Yeah, I knew you guys would become a formidable group." Jack commented, grinning at his three sisters contentedly. They all beamed back up at him, but after realizing how long it had been since they'd had a bit of fun, turned his grin into one of mischief. "I just...wasn't expecting you to _actually_ beat a bad guy."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Edith teased, crossing her arms playfully, her two sisters soon joining in. "I bet we could beat more bad guys than you ever could!"

"Pfft...you girls can't even climb a mountain without being on my shoulders." Jack replied with a small chuckle, also crossing his arms in retaliation.

"Well, at least we can ride a rollercoaster without throwing up." Margo retorted, putting her hands on her hips. Before Jack had the chance to respond through his chuckling, Agnes jumped in and beat him to it.

"Yeah! You were all like, ' _bleecccchhhh_ '." Agnes exclaimed happily, as she pretended to hurl all over the floor. At this point, the whole family were now laughing joyfully, simply just enjoying this fantastic moment.

With all of them being back together again, Perkins and Bandit being defeated, and no threat of anyone being sent into space via a rocket ship, it seemed everything was solved.

Well, apart for one thing...

As his laughter started to die down, Jack caught a glance of Vector in the corner of his eye, who was silently staring down at his father with a totally depressed expression. The teen, remembering how it felt to have no family or loved ones to enjoy life with, was suddenly hit by a strong mixture of empathy and guilt. Before he had a chance to go over and console him, Gru interrupted him with a darkened voice of anger, his expression mirroring that perfectly.

"So, what's dat _leetle punk_ doeeng here?" He questioned irately, keeping his gaze locked onto Vector poisonously. At the sound of his enemy's voice, Vector slowly turned around and gave him a semi-serious frown, one that somehow looked a mixture of both hatred and friendliness.

"Well, that _little punk_ saved all of our lives." Lucy stated, getting a little defensive for him, simply because of how grateful she truly felt for what he did. "So, how about we don't start punching him?"

"Hmm, well, he avoided dat _world of pain_ last time," Gru stated angrily, approaching the young man slowly. "Let's see eef he can avoid eet _dis_ time."

"Woah, woah, Gru, don't!" Jack exclaimed, jumping in front of his dad to stop him. Shocked, Gru gave the teen a questioning yet frustrated look, totally unsure as to why he would stop him attacking a man who had previously kidnapped the girls. "Remember that time in the lab where I went absolutely insane and attacked you, but you _still_ kept faith in me?"

With that reminder, Gru felt a little uncomfortable, considering that day was one of the strangest mixes of emotions he'd ever been through.

"Yeah?"

"Well, let's just pretend Vector is me for a little while, okay."

"What!?" Gru exclaimed, looking at Jack as if he had gone absolutely insane. "But yoo're totally different! _He's_ a bad guy! _Yoo_ were just a good guy being brainwashed eento doeeng bad stuff!"

"Dad, he isn't a bad guy!" Margo stated, going over to stand beside her father. Casting a small glance at her older brother, the eldest sister continued, ignoring her dad's dismayed expression. "He was just a good guy born into a bad life."

"Yoo...yoo can't be serious." Gru responded, his mouth falling agape. "Tell me yoo're not being serious!?"

"Nah, dad, he's cool!" Edith added in, as her and Agnes moved over to join the conversation. "You should've seen him kick that spiky-haired guy's butt!"

"Yeah, I like him." Agnes spoke, turning to Vector with a wide toothy smile, something the young man couldn't but reciprocate. "He's nice."

Switching his totally stunned expression between the girls, Vector, Jack, Dru, his wife, and his brother, Gru didn't have a clue on how to respond. This surely couldn't be happening. His arch-nemesis, who had kidnapped his girls over a year ago, was now being defended by his own family. He was having an internal conflict of emotions. Did he ignore his family and beat him up anyway? Did he abide by their wishes?

Eventually, when he caught a glance of Agnes's famous puppy-dog, adorable, manipulation expression, Gru knew what he had to do.

"Ugh, fine..." He sighed, looking over at Vector angrily, as the girls cheered happily. "I guess yoo've avoided de world of pain again. Eef Jack says yoo're really like heem den, I guess I can pretend yoo're heem for a leetle while."

"Does...does this mean I can call you dad?" Vector questioned sarcastically, grinning a little.

"Don't push eet."

* * *

 _Wow...okay...this chapter is way too long. I considered splitting it up into two different ones, but I didn't want to leave anyone on a painful cliffhanger. If you've actually just sat here and read through this entire 16,000-word chapter, then congratulations, you get the FREAKING AWESOME award. You also get to join the FREAKING AWESOME club, where we talk about how FREAKING AWESOME you are._

 _Seriously though, if you actually care enough about this story to stick with it like this, then I appreciate it so much. I honestly love writing, and I wish I could post more frequently, but it's impossible at the moment, not with all the other life stuff going on._

 _We have one more chapter to go, and then DTB 3 is officially over. It's kinda sad to think that, but hey, it's definitely not my last DM fan fiction, so...ah well._

 _If you enjoyed this and you did choose to review, thank you A LOT! Whether it's praise or criticism, I love to read reviews!_

 _Will be seeing you ASAP!_


	12. Down The Bloodline

_Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter! That one was really difficult to do, so the support means SO much to me! (I swear every chapter opens up the same way lol, but seriously, I do mean it)_

 _Anyway, we're at the final chapter! Really hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve:**  
 _ **Down The Bloodline**_

Rain crashed to the floor hard. Black clouds covered the night sky. A harsh, cut-throat wind sliced through the air. With his hood up in a protective manner, Vector trudged begrudgingly through the murky marshland, feeling the deep squelch of mud underfoot. As he did so, practically no thoughts passed through his head. Right now, the only thing invading his mind, was the strong want to taste victory...

Building up the pace, Vector snatched a glance of the lifeless landscape in front of him, still attempting to shield himself from the stabbing winds. A castle stood in the distance, clearly in complete disrepair. Mountains stood firmly in many places, flames scorching inside its dense forests. An ominous dark red glow beamed from behind them all, filling up the sky with a demonic presence.

This truly was hell on earth.

Although, even if his surroundings implied otherwise, he had no doubts he would succeed in his mission. There wasn't a chance he was going to fail. Even if it meant risking his entire life, Vector was ready to save the world.

Reaching into his pocket, the master villain turned super secret agent revealed his walkie talkie, speaking into it with a hushed yet confident tone.

"Agent A, do you copy?" He inquired, awaiting a response. However, only silence proceeded the question, something he really didn't want to hear right now. "Agent A, _do you copy_!?"

"No..." A deep voice croaked from behind.

Startled, Vector jumped and spun to the voice's source, his heart-rate instantly trebling. Stood in front of him was his target. The one he had been searching for this whole time, the one who had started all of this chaotic mess in the first place, the one he _needed_ to destroy.

Their name was 'Shadow'. They were a very tall ancient samurai, who rose from the dead and brought along some evil creatures from the depths of hell. With their lethal flaming sword and darkened terrifying eyes, Shadow had been enveloping the entire world within his warpath.

Now, if it wasn't stopped in its tracks, the earth was truly theirs for the taking.

"Give it up, Shadow." Vector snarled, clenching his battered fists together. "You've had your fun! But now it's time to return to where you came from!"

"Hmm...that's a good idea, y'know! Let me think about that..." The demonic creature replied, turning it's gaze to the darkened skies above. A red glow emitted from its eyes as it thought, as if the brain behind them had somehow caught on fire.

Taking a step backwards, Vector stood defensively, preparing himself for whatever attack Shadow was surely conjuring. But, when an explosive array of flames sprung up from below his feet and sent him flying to the ground painfully, the secret agent was now totally defenseless. All he could do was exclaim a multitude of harsh anguished yells, as the embers continued to torture his skin.

"Nah..." Shadow muttered, shrugging.

Vector stewed on the floor, desperately attempting to scoot away as the samurai approached threateningly. Once it was standing directly over its foe's form, Shadow reached down and grasped the agent tightly around his neck, before proceeding to lift him high into the air.

"You tried your best, I'll give you that," It stated poisonously. "But no-one can stop me now..."

Audibly growling, Vector balled his fists and sent the demon a vicious frown, desperately attempting to conceive a solution to this problem. But, as his mind fluttered helplessly through a million different thought patterns, the clouded sky above suddenly brightened and opened up, emitting an expansive heavenly glow.

The two spun and turned their attentions to the light source, but after almost being blinded, quickly spun back around and covered their eyes protectively. A giant figure then emerged from behind the clouds, it's ferocious glow making it practically invisible. As the figure descended to the floor, a rushing sound of wind swiftly enveloped the landscape, as the dead marshland below their feet suddenly gained life.

Once the painful glow and racing winds died down, both Vector and Shadow had to quickly save themselves before they lost their balance and toppled to the floor. Once they positioned themselves correctly, the two opened their eyes and glanced at each other, one of them holding a more positive expression than the other.

Vector felt a wave of elation spread through his entire body. He had finally received the miracle he desperately needed. The savior that can help him protect the world had arrived. The one he had been internally pleading for since this tyranny began.

The two slowly turned to face the figure, and sure enough, to Vector's utter glee, there stood a...

...

 _Unicorn?_

* * *

"...and then the friendly fairy unicorn princess comes down from the sky and saves the world with her super glowing magical horn!" Agnes cheered, as she slammed the aforementioned toy on the living room floor, knocking the samurai toy over. "The end!"

"Awww, Agnes..." Edith sulked, huffing and crossing her arms irately. "That's _always_ how the game ends! Why do you have to ruin it!?"

With the ten-year-old's aggressive exclamation, Vector jumped slightly and shook his head in surprise, as if he had been abruptly woken up from unconsciousness. He didn't know how or why, but for whatever reason, that silly childish game with unicorns and samurai toys had consumed so much of his attention, that he felt like he was in an entirely different world. He had to give her credit, Edith had an impressively wild imagination...

However, even though he knew the very concept of playing pretend in a made-up universe with objects bought from some vomit-inducing toy shop was absolutely stupid, he couldn't deny that he really, _really_ enjoyed it...

"I'm not ruining it!" Agnes retorted, also crossing her arms. "The unicorn makes it more fun!"

"Nuh-uh! Unicorns are stupid!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are _not_!"

"Are _too_!"

"Guys, stop it!" Margo butted in, sitting up on the couch in order to intercept her little sisters' ridiculous argument. The twelve-year-old had been really engrossed inside her murder-mystery novel, up until an array of high-pitched yells interrupted her. "It's just a silly game, don't get so worked up over it!"

Scoffing in unison, the two younger siblings turned away from their eldest sister and crossed their arms, glaring at each other angrily. However, it didn't take long for the tension levels to drop, once Vector smiled and looked down upon the two girls happily.

"That was...actually a lot of fun." He commented, a small feeling of sadness overtaking him, simply because he was already missing the pretend world. "Thanks for letting me play."

"That's okay!" Agnes screeched, an overzealous smile quickly replacing her prior frown. "We should play again sometime!"

"Yeah!" Edith agreed, picking up her mini samurai to inspect it critically. "Next time, I'll get the ninja cyborg. That one's _way_ cooler!"

As the two girls looked up at him brightly, Vector simply couldn't stop the grin on his face from expanding, even if he wanted to.

"Yeah...that sounds fun."

At that point, Gru and Lucy entered the room in a fit of giggles, their arms locked around each other lovingly. After the constant fear of kidnappings, divorces, and rocket ships, the couple had been spending the entire day together, simply enjoying the company the both of them had sincerely missed. A huge and seemingly neverending smile had engulfed both their expressions throughout the whole day, something the two had no objections against.

However, the moment that Gru laid eyes upon Vector, that smile proved it's finite existence...

"What are yoo doeeng een here _unsupervised_!?" He yelled, detaching from his wife to march over to the young man hazardously. "I thought I told Dru to keep an eye on yoo!"

"H-he was b-but..." Vector replied desperately, scooching backward at speed to protect himself. "He l-left to go h-help that scientist dude w-with... _something_."

The angered frown that dominated Gru's face continued to grow and grow with rage, right up until his eldest daughter finally joined her little sisters on the floor, where she interjected the conversation.

"It's fine, dad." She spoke soothingly, giving her distressed father a calming smile. She could instantly sense the tension, and to avoid another enraged argument that would surely lead to regrets, had joined in to try and halt it in its path. "He's just been playing with toys, that's all."

" _Playeeng weeth toys_?" Gru reiterated, looking down on Vector questioningly. The former villain stared back with an embarrassed fake smile, the urge to dismiss such a claim being very strong under Gru's seemingly judgemental expression.

"Yeah! He's really good at it, daddy!" Agnes spoke up loudly, gathering the director's attention at speed. "My unicorn really likes him!"

As Gru watched both Edith and Agnes give Vector contented smiles, the father-of-four really didn't know how to react. Obviously, he would never have considered Vector as the type of person to play pretend games with children, but based purely on his daughters' happiness, he couldn't ignore the feeling of appreciation that spread through him.

But, on the contrary, every time that he laid his eyes on the little punk, he still saw Margo falling dangerously through the air, and that intense feeling of rage returned in an instant.

Before he had the chance to berate Vector further for being such a waste of time and space, his twin brother came wandering into the room, humming a tune to himself happily. Although, Gru's enraged voice quickly put a stop to that...

"Dere yoo are!" He bellowed, startling Dru to no end. "I told yoo to keep an eye on Vector! Where have yoo been!?"

"Well...m-me and Nerfroid were just planneeng a-" However, after reminding himself that he was indeed talking with two AVL agents, the blonde interrupted himself and stuttered for a few moments. "...um... _definitely_ not evil scheme. Besides, what does eet matter? Everytheeng's fine, isn't eet?"

"No! Eet's _not_ fine!" Gru exclaimed, taking a fierce step forward. "Somebody's gotta be here to watch Vector _at all times_! I know he _'saved your life'_ and _'came to de rescue'_ but we still _cannot trust_ dis absolute piece of-"

"Gru..." Lucy interrupted gently, gathering his attention by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, okay sweetie. It's no biggie, so don't _stress_ over it..."

Considering how much emphasis was placed on the word 'stress', Gru picked up on the signal and dropped his head with a solemn sigh. He _really_ had to stop getting like this. Anytime something even slightly concerning happened, Gru lost control and went off on another angered rant. Of course, nothing like the outburst in the minivan, but still way too aggressive than he was actually intending...

At this point, he was really beginning to worry that this anger control problem would never be solved...

"Sorry..." He muttered quietly, as he lightly pulled his spouse closer to him. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, Gru simply held her there, his arms wrapped closely around her sides, waiting until he had fully calmed down.

After a moment, the door to the living room speedily swung open and a tired looking Jack came bounding inside the room, a large pile of reports in his grasp. Once he made it over to the small coffee table, the teen dropped the reports atop it and took in a large fatigued breath, his cheeks beaming with a shade of red.

"Okay, so..." He quickly had to cut himself off after only two words, since he realized he needed more oxygen if he actually wanted to talk coherently. "I've finished up the research on all villains under investigation, so they're all ready to be taken down. I've also tampered with the payroll sheets and logged you in for this week, so head-office will never know that you took off on a road trip. I even contacted Derek and had them apprehend that Fullbyte guy you were talking about, after Vector gave us his home address, of course."

Gru turned and gave Vector a small look of appreciation, but the moment his former villain nemesis turned to meet his gaze, the director frowned and looked back at his son.

"Well, great work, Jack. Thank yoo..."

"There's n-no need to thank me. Do you need anything else? I-I could go water the plants, or maybe do all the laundry, or just, y'know... _something_ useful!"

Ever since returning home, Jack had been working himself silly to ensure that Gru had absolutely no worries. After what he said and did in the minivan, he thought it was the least he could do. At first, Gru wasn't too happy about it, considering that it was also his fault as well. But, after seeing how truly determined he was to set things straight, he allowed him to just do what he had to do.

Now though, he looked like he was on the brink of passing out cold, so there was no way Gru could let him continue in good conscience.

"No, Jack, eet's fine." He stated authoritatively, motioning towards the sofa. "Just take a break."

" _Break_!? What!? Does it _look_ like I need a break?"

Gru examined the huge purple bags under his eyes, the small shake of fatigue in his legs, and his concerning slouched stance, and decided there was a very simple answer to that question.

"Take a look een de mirror and decide for yourself." He responded, before switching his gaze to his three daughters. "Now, come on gurls, eet's time for bed."

"Awww!" They moaned in unison.

"Can we please just have _five_ more minutes?" Agnes protested cutely, equipping those dreaded puppy dog eyes. However, after catching a glance of the time, which displayed truly how long past their bedtime it was, Gru managed to show some resistance.

"No, no, yoo've had long enough." Gru replied, smiling at his littlest child, who huffed and looked down at her feet sadly. "Go get changed into your pajamas and den we'll come read you a bedtime story."

Raising her head again, the slightly more upbeat six-year-old gave him a hopeful expression.

"Can we read ' _One Big Unicorn'_?"

Gru's smile grew ever wider. "Sure theeng, kiddo."

Now, obviously won over by that agreement, the three of them ran out of the room in excitement, all other aspects of life completely forgotten. However, after a few seconds, Agnes popped her head back through the living room door, her body still bouncing a little in anticipation.

"Bye, Vector! See yoo again soon!"

Not knowing the conflict she was soon to cause, the little girl closed the door and disappeared with a giggle, leaving the room in complete silence. However, that silence was short-lived, because when Gru turned to his nemesis with an irate frown, it was only a matter of moments before it was obliterated.

"Look, I don't know what yoo told her..." He started ominously, his teeth gritted together. "But yoo can _FORGET_ ever comeeng back here!"

Before responding, Vector frowned and crossed his arms, not allowing himself to be intimidated out of a confrontation this time. He was sick and tired of fearfully giving in at this point.

"I never told her anything!" He argued loudly, taking a step towards him. "Plus, why would I ever _WANT_ to come back here if I'm not even wanted!?"

"Pfft, like _dat's_ ever stopped yoo! Yoo've never been wanted anywhere een your _WHOLE LIFE,_ but yet yoo're still around!"

Suddenly extremely offended, Vector's expression practically exploded with rage and the young adult couldn't stop himself from charging forward.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SA-"

"Guys, _stop it_!" Lucy exclaimed, as her and Jack jumped in and apprehended Gru and Vector respectively, just in case a physical fight was to break out. "Gru, remember what happened the _last time_ you went off on one like this!?"

"Well, look I...I can't _help_ eet!" Gru responded, the anger and stress becoming very clear in his face and voice. "Why ees he even here!? We should've left dis idiot een NASA to _DIE_! I don't _care_ eef he saved yoo guys, he _still_ tried to hurt _MY GURLS_!"

" _YOUR_ girls!?" Lucy responded, a massive frown instantly consuming her expression. Once he realized what he unintentionally implied, the regret hit Gru like a train, and with that, the frown on his face quickly faded.

"N-No, I d-deedn't mean-"

"They're _OUR_ girls, Gru, and this 'idiot' saved _OUR_ lives! So, if you _were_ to leave him to die in NASA, then _WE_ wouldn't be _TOGETHER_ RIGHT NOW!" After clearly scaring Gru a tonne with her outburst, Lucy lowered her voice a little and spoke more soothingly. She knew that Gru didn't mean it in that way, but yet, she had to make this very clear to him. "Look, I know he put the girls' lives in danger a year ago, but just yesterday, he _saved_ their lives! It's obvious he's not the same person that he was before!"

"But-"

"And do you want what happened with Jack to happen again!? When you refused his changed personality and drove him away!? Do you want that entire situation to repeat itself!?" She continued. Gru could do nothing but stare into Lucy's angry eyes silently, unsure on how to respond. He wasn't sure where this was going, but for whatever reason, it was scaring him deeply. "He's not how he was before, Gru. He's changing as a person."

"Which is something _YOU_ should consider doing!" Vector exclaimed suddenly, gathering Gru's attention. The AVL director's frown instantly returned when his eyes laid upon him, coupled with his aggressive tone of voice.

"What's _DAT_ supposed to mean!?"

"We all saw what you did at NASA, Gru!" He replied aggressively, attracting Lucy, Dru, and Jack's threatening looks, the three of them mentally screaming for him to shut up. "All those things you did! All those people you hurt! Doesn't look the actions of a good guy to ME!"

Gru's expression completely dropped, as he turned to his wife with a look of pure sorrow.

"Yoo...yoo _saw_ dat?" Lucy didn't respond. Instead, she turned away sadly, not wanting to relive the events of the past few days. "Lucy, I...yoo gotta understand dat I...I was forced into-"

"Don't make excuses, Gru." Lucy interrupted gently, the glimmer of tears shining in her eyes. " _You_ did that, okay. That's the end of it."

"Look...it's obvious you're not okay, Gru." Vector continued, his voice suddenly a lot softer. The AVL director turned back towards him, the mixed look of fear and total sadness still present on his face. "Leaving your family and doing those kinds of things, that clearly isn't who you are. Trust me, after I came off the moon, I was the same way. I don't know what happened up there, or even how I survived, but...it changed me. I was unsure of who I was. I did a lot of stupid things that I regret and I had no control of myself. That was until I saw Doctor Redcliffe."

At that point, Vector dug into his pocket and took out a small business card, which he cradled in his grasp for a moment. He moved past Jack, who decided not to stop him, and handed it to Gru, who looked down upon it critically.

"She's a therapist. Trust me, I don't know where I would be right now if it wasn't for her. She was the one who helped me to understand myself. I still had a lot to do on my own, but she was the one who set me on the right path." He paused for a few seconds to cast a look at Gru's family, who were all heavily invested in the conversation. "I think...she could do the same for you."

For a little while, Gru simply stared down at the card with a frown, skimming over the details upon it. Eventually, when he fully digested what this would involve, he pocketed the card and turned away from Vector, realizing his wife was much more important than a conversation with him. He couldn't stand the thought of following his advice, but yet, it did sound like a good idea...

"I'm...Lucy, I'm..." He began, staring into his wife's eyes, who stared right back sadly. "I'm...I'm so sorry yoo had to see me like dat."

He wrapped his arms tightly around Lucy's back, hugging her soothingly. Lucy responded by doing the same thing, as she buried her head into his chest. She didn't blame him for what happened, or how he reacted. She just wanted him to be happy.

For a long while, the room was totally silent, all apart for the distant sound of laughter and pat of small feet coming from upstairs. Gru loved that sound. The sound of the girls running around happily, enjoying their lives.

Right now though, because of endless memories and regrets, it was just causing him guilt...

"I...think I should get going." Vector spoke quietly, finally breaking the ' _silence_ '.

* * *

"So...what are you thinking of doing now, Vector?" Lucy questioned, as they all walked him to the front door, one of them doing so reluctantly.

"I...I dunno." Vector replied, as he left the house and strolled out onto the front steps. "Guess I'll get a job, save up for a vacation, try and find a girlfriend..."

The former villain looked down at the floor, a slight smile growing on his face.

"And who knows...maybe I'll adopt."

With that, Lucy, Dru, and Jack smiled in elation. Although they never ever thought Vector would say those words, it was suddenly such a relief to actually hear him do so. Again, another normal guy who was wrongly placed on the path of villainy had been shown the right way to live life.

How many more times could it happen before it became cliché?

However, just after those words had left his mouth, somewhere deep inside, something was berating Vector for being so stupid. Why on earth would he want children? What idiot would even think of that? All they do is eat, whine, and demand attention. That life sounds like total hell.

But, when he realized that berating thought process was just another cynical quote from his ' _father_ ', then he soon erased it from his brain.

He considered having children exactly like Gru's. Would that make him an idiot? All they ever do is eat, whine, and demand attention. Doesn't that life sound like total hell?

Nope.

"So, what's gonna happen with my dad?" He questioned, cocking his head to the side anxiously. "Is he gonna go to prison, or...?"

"Let's just say, he'll be kept in good hands." Lucy responded, angrily balling her fists as she thought about the brutish former bank owner. " _Forever_."

Vector nodded happily, an evil smile lurking on his face.

"Good."

"Well, see ya, Vector!" Jack exclaimed, leaning over to give the young man a playful punch in the arm. Judging on the way he groaned in response, maybe it was a little too hard. "Good luck with that 'finding a girlfriend' stuff. You're gonna need it."

"Uh...yeah." Vector replied, frowning a little as Jack gave him a joking wink. "Thanks..."

"Bye, Vectro! Eet was nice meeteeng yoo!" Dru screeched, giving him an overly energetic grin, something Vector struggled to replicate.

"See you the next time we need saving from a rocket." Lucy added, joyfully grinning at him.

"Haha, yeah..." Vector responded, chuckling as he returned the grin contentedly. "Can't wait."

And then, after that short exchange, an awkward silence built up between them all. It was pretty obvious as to why, considering that Gru was yet to say a single word since they'd left the living room. He hadn't even turned to face him once throughout the whole conversation. After giving him the therapist contact and some advice on how to deal with the anger problem, he was still holding onto the bitter resentment he had towards him.

But, could he blame him, considering certain past events?

"Uh...Gru?" Vector began, his voice quiet and anxious, the total opposite to what it was a few seconds ago. As if he was completely deaf, the AVL director still refused to turn to him, instead opting to stare at the doorframe. "I'm...I'm sorry about what I did last year. I see now what those girls mean to you and...I'm sorry for almost taking them away from you for good. Like Lucy said, I'm not the same person that I was before, and although it's no excuse, I think you of all people can relate to that. Just...keep a hold of those little girls. They're pretty special."

Gru still refused to face him. Although his apology was as sincere as it could ever be, he realized that this was never going to go anywhere. This was something he simply didn't deserve forgiveness for.

"Anyway...I'll see ya around."

Turning away from the Gru family, Vector started his descent down the front steps, unsure of where to go now. Would he go home? That was the only property that he owned, so it seemed he had no choice. Maybe he should think about buying a new house, considering that his evil lair reminded him way too much of-

"Wait."

Vector stopped instantly.

He turned back towards the door as Gru stepped out and approached him, his expression totally indifferent. Once he was face-to-face with Vector, Gru stood there for a few seconds, silently looking deep into his eyes. For a moment, Vector genuinely thought he was going to punch him in the face, as one final revenge for what he'd done. But, when a small smile started to flicker on his lips, that thought was eradicated.

"Goodbye, Vector." He said, giving him a single nod.

Vector quickly returned the nod.

"Goodbye, Gru..."

With that, the young man turned and descended right down the front steps, heading off into the night. As Gru moved back up to join his family at the front door, all four of them watched as he traversed over the front lawn and onto the street. But, just before he left the property for good, Gru's former nemesis turned back around and addressed them all with a coy grin.

"Oh, and by the way..." He began, raising his head a little confidently. "It's _Victor_."

Turning around for the last time, Victor started down the street with a joyful swagger, a gigantic smile placed firmly on his expression. The family watched him for a little while longer as he slowly disappeared into the darkness, all four of them smiling happily, before finally closing the front door...

As Victor excited himself with thoughts of the future, his gaze was suddenly caught by a glimpse of something strange in the sky. As he came to a halt, the ex-villain turned his head up to investigate it. Considering how far away it seemed to be, he could only guess it was a shooting star. But, based on how slow it was moving, and the fact that it carried an ominous purple glow, that also didn't seem correct...

Eventually, after a few seconds, the odd light completely disappeared.

Totally confused, Victor stood there for a short while, staring at the empty depths of the night sky questioningly. Odd thoughts and scenarios and... _memories_ flashed through his head. His brain desperately searched for answers on what that could've been. Was it some kind of satellite? Or rocket ship? Was someone watching him?

But, when he realized how crazy he was acting, and how stupid a lot of these thoughts were, he shrugged unknowingly and carried on down the street.

It must've just been his imagination...

* * *

"Come on, we've been waiting _forever_!" Edith complained, as she dragged her father the rest of the way through their bedroom door. The couple could only take a single step inside before they were attacked by their middle daughter, who managed to latch an impressively tight grip around Gru's arm.

"Okay, okay..." Gru replied, chuckling as he let the ten-year-old drag him over to the small stool in the room. "Don't pull too hard, Edith, I'm goeeng to fall."

As the girls all giggled and directed their dad to his designated book reading spot, Lucy moved over to the shelf and picked out the 'One Big Unicorn' book, something the family hadn't read in a little while. Obviously, the girls absolutely loved that story, but Gru had made it a rule to save it for special occasions, out of fear they may tire of it.

Tonight seemed like an appropriate night to forget that rule, considering recent events.

The moment that Gru sat down on the stool, the girls all ran off and jumped up into their individual bomb beds, eagerly waiting for the story to begin. Once they had all laid down and Gru had scootched over to give a Lucy a seat beside him, which was a very tight squeeze considering how small the stool was, they began.

"One beeg unicorn, strong and free..." Gru started.

"Thought he was happy as he could be." Lucy added, as the couple shared a quick smile. Since joining the Gtu family for good, Lucy was given special rights to read the 'One Big Unicorn' story along with Gru.

For a privilege so simple, that very thought gave Lucy a massive feeling of happiness.

"Den three leetle keeteens came around..."

"And turned his whole life upside down!"

"Dey made heem laugh, _hoho_..."

"They made him cry, _ohhh_."

"...he...he never should have said goodbye."

Gru felt the pain of guilt rise in his chest. He closed his eyes for a moment and took in a breath, as Lucy wrapped her arm around his side. She obviously understood the connection, and as always, she was as supportive as ever.

He truly didn't deserve her, nor any of them.

"And now he knows that he could never part..." Lucy continued, as she looked back down at the book, waiting for him to continue with the last line.

But, after a few seconds, when it still hadn't come, she looked up at her husband worryingly. There, she noticed his very anguished expression. He looked like he was on the brink of crying, most likely out of guilt for his actions. He shouldn't have to feel this way. They all still loved him. Nobody blamed him for what happened.

But yet, she knew he was going to have a hard time persuading himself of that...

"F-From dose...dose three leetle keetens..." He finally spoke, his voice stuttering. He turned his head up to look at his three precious little girls, who all stared back at him with concerned expressions. They didn't even look tired. This book always made them feel tired. But today, for a fairly obvious reason, it didn't seem to have much of an effect.

"...who changed his heart."

After giving them all especially long goodnight kisses and hugs, Gru and Lucy turned off the light and quietly exited the room, a present sense of sorrow above their heads. They knew it shouldn't be like this. Today was a great day. They were all safe and back together again, so they should all be happy.

Yet, there was no use in ignoring this problem.

"Deed yoo see deir faces?" Gru spoke quietly, once the two of them had come to a stop in the hallway. " _I_ made dem feel like dat, Lucy! God, dis ees _all_ my fault."

"Gru, come on, you _know_ that isn't true." Lucy replied, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "Yes, you stormed off from the motel, but you were stressed out. Jack shouldn't have yelled, we should've helped out more, and most importantly, _I_ should've listened sooner. We all messed up here, okay. So, let's just move on and try and find a way to fix things for good."

With that reminder, Gru sighed heavily and put his head down, massaging his temple as he did so. After a moment, he reluctantly reached into his pocket and took out the therapist's business card, the two of them staring at it solemnly.

"But _I_ shouldn't be like _dis_..." He stated, looking back up into Lucy's eyes, who slowly met his expression. "Dere has to be a reason why _dis_ ees happening. And, even though eet's gonna be difficult...I'm gonna go find out...for _yoo_."

The couple wrapped their arms around each other lovingly and hugged for a long while, a comfortable silence sticking in the air. This was one of the most difficult periods their marriage had been through since actually tying the knot, but they knew it was a battle they needed to take. It shouldn't be too difficult, right? Whenever things got tough between them, they stuck it out together and kept the other one afloat, simply by just being there.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, it seemed Gru had to fix this one alone...

* * *

The next morning, Gru pulled up to the therapist's parking lot and exited his tank at a slow pace, feeling the nerve bulge violently within. When he looked up at the small building before him, he couldn't ignore the overwhelming doubt in his head. What if this didn't work? What would he do then? He truly would be out of ideas.

As he strolled over to the front door, entered the reception, and checked in at the front desk, he was directed over to a small grey door with a sign upon it. It read 'Dr. Redcliffe PhD', confirming that this was indeed where Vector went for therapy. His heart practically jumped out of his chest when he finally built up the courage to enter it.

Once he trudged anxiously into the room, a short, blonde-haired, very formal lady stood from her seat and approached Gru, giving him a wide and friendly smile.

"Why, you must be Mister Gru." She greeted, extending her arm out for a handshake, something the director met apprehensively. "My name's Dr. Redcliffe, but you can just call me Rachael. It's very nice to meet you."

"Yes..." Gru replied, awkwardly dropping his head for a few moments. "Nice to meet yoo too...uh...Rachael."

"Why don't you take a seat?" The blonde motioned her arm towards the nearby bed, and with a small sigh, Gru moved forward and solemnly followed her request. Once he was comfortably laid down, Rachael strolled back to her seat and settled upon it, before speaking in a very gentle tone of voice. "Now, before I start, I should remind you that this is a safe zone. Everything that you say will remain just between me and you. You do not have to be fearful of confidentiality."

Gru turned away for a moment, contemplating this whole scenario. He seriously felt like a child right now. Someone who was completely helpless and dependent. He knew deep down that these thoughts were irrational, since going to therapy was obviously nothing to be ashamed of, but like with a lot of things recently, he was struggling to control them.

"So..." She continued, picking up a small notepad and pen from a nearby table. "How are we feeling today?"

"Well, um..." Trying to uncover an answer, the director dropped his head again, unsure of how to respond to such a question. Of course, this very thing was the main problem he had been facing for the past few weeks. Attempting to decipher his emotions. " _Fine_...I guess."

"You _guess_?"

Releasing a deep huff, Gru flopped backward and laid his head against the bed, staring intently at the ceiling. "I don't know! I should be, but...judgeeng on all de stupeed stuff I've been doeeng lately..." He turned his head away sorrowfully, to avoid the sadness in his eyes being exposed. "...I guess not."

"Okay, well..." Rachael began jotting stuff down on her notepad, something that Gru couldn't help but get slightly curious about. "How about we start with that? What is this _stuff_ that you have been doing lately?"

"Ugh...where do I even begeen?" He replied irately, unable to stop the frown from permeating his expression. The very reminder of what he did to his family caused him a huge amount of anger and guilt. Deserting them and almost leading them to their deaths. It was truly unforgivable.

But yet...they still forgave him. They really were the best part of his life.

Somehow, that only made him feel worse...

Letting out what must have been his thirtiest sigh of the day, Gru turned back to the ceiling and began the long story of events, knowing truly how much recalling this would hurt him.

"Okay, so, eet all started when I wanted to get away from my job for a while. I suggested to my family dat we all go on a big roadtreep together and get away from everytheeng, wheech dey all agreed was a good idea. Eet was supposed to be a time for fun and joy, and also a chance for me to get a break from work. But...theengs went badly. After my son got us all keecked out from our hotel, I screamed at dem all and left dem een a stingy motel and den got keednapped by one of my old nemesis's and den my wife was tricked into theenkeeng I wanted a divorce and den my keednappers took me to de NASA headquarters and I flipped out again and started puncheeng people and den my family got put een a rocket sheep and dey almost died but thankfully we were saved by my nemesis's son and den he suggested dat I come here and after realizeeng how leetle control I have over my anger...well...here we are!"

Rachael had given up on trying to keep notes about ten seconds into the story. Gru had spoken at such an intense speed, that doing so was practically impossible. In all her years of studying psychology and helping people with their problems, she had never once been at a loss on how to proceed.

Well, they say there's a first time for everything...

Her training would advise that she asked questions, but how could she do so when she had literally no idea what he was talking about? She recalled him mentioning something about a motel and being kidnapped and flipping out at people and...something about a _rocket ship_ , but these items of information were literally useless without context.

Thankfully, after around ten seconds of thoughtful silence, Gru continued releasing his thoughts, saving Rachael from a dreaded case of unprofessionalism.

"And...recently...I've been seeing dis...dis demon. Sometimes een my dreams and...sometimes een real life. Kind of like a... _hallucination_ of some sort." With that, Rachael nodded contently and started writing notes again, now that she had finally understood something he'd said. "Eet always threatens my family...and eet scares me. Like...eet always goes on about how dey're bad for me and...how eet'll take control again and...how eet misses de _good old days_."

"Good old days? Hmm...well, that could be a clue." She responded, taking down a few more notes before looking up at the AVL director. "Most of the time, parts of our brain are very informative on what it wants or needs, but people will dismiss such thoughts out of fear. Are you secretly missing a past period of your life?"

"No, no, _NO_! _I could never_!" Gru exclaimed defensively, sitting up at speed. For a few seconds, the two simply stared at each other, an anxious and very tense silence invading the room. Eventually, Rachael dropped her head and broke it, giving her patient a very comforting expression.

"Calmmmmm, Mister Gru." She spoke soothingly. Under that gaze and tone of voice, Gru couldn't help but loosen up, and he gradually fell back to the seat. "It's okay. Remember, this is a safe place. If there is something being a bother inside your head, this is the best place to just let it out."

"But...but no. Dat just...can't be true." Gru continued, shaking his head dismissively. Rachael watched him do so and started making notes again. "Look, I...I used to be a villain, okay. Eet was a very, _very_ lonely life and...everytheeng was stale and tiresome. I'd just spend every seengle day alone een de basement, comeeng up weeth new evil plots and schemes. Eet was fun een de begineeng, but...eet got old very fast. Notheeng was goeeng anywhere and my entire life held no meaneeng! And den, after one of my schemes didn't go to plan, I accidentally adopted my three beautiful daughters and...suddenly dere was a meaneeng. Not too long after, I met my amazeeng wife and started my job at de AVL and...everytheeng changed for de better. How could I ever miss dat old, stagnant period of my life?"

"Hmm...I see..." Rachael nodded, scribbling a long series of notes down. "So, you love your family and want them to be a part of your life, but yet, you're still struggling to retain a consistent level of happiness?"

Gru turned away again, a huge look of guilt and sorrow crossing his features. He shouldn't be allowed to complain when he had the best family in the whole world, but he couldn't deny, that theory sounded very true. "... _yes_."

"Mm-hmm, yes, I think I understand now. This is a very, very common problem." Rachael looked up from her notepad, holding a much more confident expression compared to a little earlier. "Mister Gru, tell me about your _AVL job_?"

Turning to meet her expression, Gru narrowed his eyes and fell silent for a moment, not expecting that question.

"Uhhh...eet's..." He looked down at the ground in thought, attempting to answer this in the most truthful and honest way possible. "Eet's difficult and...pretty stressful, but...eet's still fulfileeng! I mean, I'm de _director_ of de whole company! Even though eet does get hard sometimes, eet always feels like what I'm doeeng has actual meaneeng."

"Mm-hmm. So, what is it that you actually _do_ as the director, then?"

"Well, I'm een charge of planneeng de heists, overvieweeng reports, and superviseeng de employees."

"And is that what you do every single day?"

"Uhh...yes, pretty much. Sometimes I also go out on de schemes but...dat eesn't a daily occurrence. De other stuff ees though."

"Okay, so..." Rachael began, pausing for a moment, considering this one last time. "Would you say it's getting _stale and tiresome_?"

With that question, Gru spun and stared at the therapist for a few seconds, his mind going entirely blank. It was getting pretty stale and tiresome, but that didn't particularly matter, right? So far, he has been one of the best directors the company has ever had. Since his appointment, the criminal world was being crippled more and more by the day, as more and more villains were either being defeated or scared out of the profession. Because of that, his wants and needs had to remain a secondary concern.

Now, he was actually making a difference, and people were looking up to him instead of fearing him. It simply wasn't comparable to his old way of life.

Right...?

"No...no, I wouldn't...eet definitely ees not...I don't theenk eet ees..." Gru stammered and stuttered as he struggled to produce an answer, his brain filling up with conflicting thoughts. Rachael watched him do so the whole time, and even though she was giving him a very comforting and reassuring look, Gru was now suddenly feeling very pressured. It genuinely seemed that, no matter what answer he gave, more internal problems would arise. "I...I love my family and I...I love saveeng de world! I could never wish for anytheeng different, because...I...I'm not..."

"Mister Gru, it's fine to get a little tired of things." Rachael interrupted gently. "It doesn't mean you hate it, nor does it mean you hate _them_. It just means you're a human. After all, you can't be stuck in the same place forever. It gets boring..."

With that vague recollection of a recent conversation, Gru didn't particularly like where she was going with this. But, since he sensed some form of breakthrough coming up, he decided against becoming defensive. Instead, he watched her carefully as she leaned forward in her seat, presenting him with a small smile.

"I'm not telling you to ditch your family and go back to that old lonely life you mentioned. I'm just advising you to mix things up. Why not forget about all of those director responsibilities and go back to enjoying your job? Why not go do some evil stuff somedays, and then some good guy stuff other days? And also...why not try out some new hobbies? You can even do them _with_ your family."

And with that, Gru was now really glad he kept himself quiet. That actually _did_ sound good. Living life without those added responsibilities. Spending time trying out some new hobbies with his family. That really did sound like the answer to his problems.

But...there was still one issue.

"Well, dat...dat certainly sounds great, but..." Gru began, his whole expression dropping again. "But quiteeng de director job...eet just isn't dat seemple."

"Why?"

"Look...I'm not de one who gets to call de shots, okay. I just...I can't be lookeeng out for _myself_ here."

With that clarifying response, Rachael's questioning expression quickly swapped out for one of realization.

"So, it's the thought of letting down your _family_?" Based on Gru's expanded surprised and saddened expression, she didn't need a verbal response. "Mister Gru, I do not think that is a concern. Either way, no matter what, your family are still going to love and support you. I mean, think of it from a different perspective. Imagine one of _them_ decided to give up on something because it was making them unhappy. Would _you_ be disapppointed?"

Turning his gaze to the floor, Gru lost himself in thought for a few seconds. What if the roles were reversed and _Lucy_ was the one who had become director? What if _she_ had found the occupation to be incredibly stressful? Would _he_ be there to support her through it?

Of course. There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

"No, but-"

"Then, don't worry about that. I know you feel like you're being selfish, but there are just some things you need to do for yourself. And plus, being happier and less stressed out will do your family a big favor as well!"

In another few seconds of silence, Gru dropped his head in consideration. He was still a little internally conflicted, but it did feel like some strides had been taken in solving this. The thought of quitting the director job still frightened him, but in terms of the bigger picture, he knew it would be the answer to his problems. So, why couldn't he just do it?

Thankfully, Rachael must've noticed the continued hint of doubt within his expression, and she leaned forward again to provide support.

"You don't have to follow my advice, Mister Gru. At the end of the day, this _is_ your call. I know this is a scary choice. I know you don't want this to harm _them_. But, deep down, you know that sticking with this way of life for much longer...will end up hurting them much more than _quitting your job_ ever could."

Gru's first reaction was of complete rejection. He could never cause physical harm to any of his family. That very thought made him feel sick to his stomach. The fact that she implied that was deeply insulting. He loved them more than the entire universe combined, so that proposition was absolutely absurd.

But, when he remembered how he ran away and ditched them in that motel, seemingly without a care for how they would feel, he realized that causing them _physical_ harm wasn't what she was referring to. No, how he had been acting was mentally affecting them all.

He thought back to the demon in his head. To what he had been threatening ever since their first encounter in his nightmare.

 _"Oh, you can stop me from hurting them, Felonious…but you can't stop yourself."_

Now, he was going to prove it wrong.

"Thank yoo, doctor." Gru announced happily, as he rose from the seat to shake Rachael's hand. She met it with a smile, happy to see that his expression contained a lot more optimism than it had before. "I theenk I know exactly what to do now."

As her patient left the room with a few more statements of gratitude, Rachael let out a small relieved sigh and leaned up against the wall. That had to be up there with one of the strangest sessions she had ever been through. She still had very little context as to the NASA and rocket ship reference, but for whatever reason, she figured it was better to stay in the dark on that.

Considering that he had strong ties to both the AVL and villainy, she could only presume that it involved something bad.

Either way, she powered on through it and seemingly solved his very odd problem. Truthfully, she was terrified halfway through that Gru wouldn't be persuaded. If he left with the same issues that he'd entered with, then her reputation could've been put under question. But, thankfully, he seemed elated by her advice, something that made her feel equally as happy...

 _ **ZAP!**_

That's when a very loud set of noises interrupted her deep thought process, startling the living daylights out of her. There was some sort of zapping noise followed by a horrified scream, before both were cut short by total silence. It seemed to have come from somewhere outside, so in a moment of deep concern, she thundered over to the window to catch a view of the parking lot.

When her eyes laid upon a pedestrian stuck in a thick block of ice, and then subsequently drawn to the tall bald man who was happily whistling to himself as he grasped a huge metal weapon in his hand, there was only one way Rachael could react...

"Yep...strangest session _ever_..."

* * *

Inside the AVL intelligence office, Derek was sat quietly at his desk, absentmindedly tapping his pen against a nearby notepad. He had been placed on final report duty, which was possibly one of the most boring and intensive tasks you can do. It involved a ridiculous amount of typing and a stupid amount of research.

Plus, as of late, he really hated doing research. Not because of what it entailed, but because of who used to be in charge of doing it. It would always remind him of how Nigel would complain. How he would always sit there, frowning at his monitor, thinking about a drink at the bar rather than the work in front of him.

The AVL really hadn't been the same since he'd died. It just hadn't...

Then, as the loud whizzing noise of the elevator caught in his ear, the agent quickly forced himself out of his thoughts and sat up in his chair at a swift pace. Trying to act totally causal, Derek started typing heavily upon the keyboard, staring at the monitor as if he was in deep concentration. When Gru finally appeared at his side, he refused to look at him, instead pretending to be so consumed by his work that he didn't even notice him.

"Don't bother pretendeeng, Derek." Gru spoke, rolling his eyes as the agent acted completely startled. "I know yoo've been slackeeng off."

"Wh...I... _slacking off_?" Derek rebutted, a fake look of shock upon his face. "I...I would _never_ do such a th-"

"Eet doesn't matter Derek. I really don't care anymore." Ignoring the agent's puzzled look, Gru changed the subject and proceeded with a very important question, the one that drove him up here in the first place. "Deed yoo ensure dat Perkeens was placed een de underwater prison as I'd asked?"

"Oh...uh...yes, I did it this morning." Derek replied, revealing a set of papers to him, all of which confirmed that he had already been transferred from the regular prison to the more secured prison. "I also put him in the cell opposite to Fiona's, just as you had requested."

"Excellent, excellent." Gru spoke, nodding as he read through the papers. "He's gonna absolutely _love eet_ een dere. Dis ees some great work."

"Uh...r-really?" Derek spoke excitedly, leaning in a little as Gru smiled with elation. "Great enough to...get a pay rise?"

"Hmm...well, possibly, but...dat ees not goeeng to happen." When Derek gave him a deep look of confusion, Gru turned around and loudly cleared his throat, gathering the attention of the whole room. "Everyone! I have news. Today, as of immediate effect, I will be giveeng up my position as AVL director."

The whole room responded with a shocked gasp, as many of the agents turned to each other and voiced their surprise. Clearly, that announcement had caught them off guard. Whether they were happy or disappointed with his departure, Gru was happier not knowing.

"You are?" Derek questioned, standing up from his seat to give him a wide-eyed expression. The father-of-four couldn't help but roll his eyes as he responded.

"Yes, Derek, I deedn't just say dat for de fun of eet."

"S-So, wait...t-the position is available?" He inquired, his face brightening up with glee. With that question, Gru narrowed his eyes and smirked a little, unable to hold back a very small chuckle.

" _Yoo_ want to take over as director?"

"W-Well...I mean...if...if nobody else is available, then I could definitely-"

"Okay, furst..." Gru interrupted, his face now consumed by a humorous smile. Even though he was a complete idiot, he was still glad Derek was here. He did say some pretty funny things every now and then. "I do not have de authority to hand people de director job. Dat responsibility ees handled by head-office. And second, I've already persuaded _dem_ to reinstate Ramsbottom."

At that moment, as if it was perfectly timed, the elevator whizzed and ascended again, allowing Silas Ramsbottom, the former director before Valerie's employment, to enter the room with a cold frown. When he did, all the agents quickly quietened and sat down, leaving Derek as the only one still on his feet.

"What!?" He exclaimed, turning to Gru with an irate expression. "So, after all of the work that I've been putting in for this company, after all of the villains that I helped apprehend, I _still_ don't get any recgonitio-"

"Derek, my god, _be real_! All yoo ever do everyday ees sit around, pretend to work, collect your paycheck, and den head off home." Gru interrupted, savoring this one last beration. After this, he won't have the power to dish out commands or yells anymore, so this was his one last chance to enjoy it. "And second, eef I am correct, yoo have a wife and keeds. Trust me, from personal experience, haveeng a family and being de director are two theengs dat don't mix. Eet really eesn't de job for yoo."

"B...but-"

"Now, Silas here, he's been divorced for several years." Gru continued, moving over to put an arm around Ramsbottom, who narrowed his eyes aggressively. "When he goes home, he has no other responsibilities but to pay de bills for _heemself_. He has no-one else dat he can hurt by being de director, because dere ees absolutely nobody een his house but _heem_. Now, eef he was _still married_ , den I definitely wouldn't have-"

"Yes! _Thank you_ , Gru! I don't need reminding." Ramsbottom yelled, pushing himself away from the former director, who was grinning to himself slightly. "I guess I do have to thank you though, for bringing me back to... _this_ again. Just as I was getting settled into retirement."

He cast a look at the agents around the room, not bothering to hide his expression of disgust.

"Not a problem, Silas. Anytime." Gru replied, giving him a mocking grin. "Now, dere are only a few conditions dat I want met eef yoo are to take over again. First-"

" _Conditions_? Why, I think you've forgotten how being a standard AVL agent works." Ramsbottom responded, anger lacing his voice. He was already getting sick and tired of Gru, and it had only been about two minutes. "I'm the one who gets to call the shots around here, so I do not need to take any _conditions_ from some lesser employee."

Gru chuckled a little before replying.

"Well... _I_ theenk _you've_ forgotten how many times I've saved dis stupeed company." He spoke, approaching him dangerously. "Though I may have resigned as director, I still have a very large influence within head-office. I'm pretty chummy weeth dem now, especially after I've saved a lot of their careers. So, eef yoo do not wish to abide by my conditions, den I'm sure I can put een some... _nice words_ for yoo."

With that threat, Ramsbottom narrowed his eyes and gave him a frown. As much as he wished he could, there was no point lying to himself. Retirement was freaking _boring_. The only place where he felt like he belonged was the AVL, and ever since taking on retirement, he was finding life more and more hard to deal with. He just couldn't find any sort of interest in anything else. _This_ was the only thing in life he was interested in, as much as he pretended he hated it.

For that reason, he couldn't allow Gru to jeopardize his position with head-office. Of course, _he_ was the one who got him back in as director. It wouldn't be too difficult for him to do the opposite.

"Proceed." He replied, turning his head away with a deep angered huff.

"Great." Gru commented, smiling as he spun around and absentmindedly wandered back and forth. "First condition, no matter how many mistakes he makes or how much attitude he gives yoo, yoo cannot fire my son. Second condition, whenever I say so, yoo will allow me or any of my employed family to take a day off to participate in some external activities for my or their mental well-being. And finally, and dis ees de most important condition..."

Gru came to a stop and stared at Ramsbottom threateningly, his eyes alight with an aggressive blaze.

"No matter what dey have committed or who dey are, yoo will never EVER reinstate executions. Eef dey are a terrible criminal who has done wrong, yoo will sentence dem to a life of walloweeng een de underwater prison. Eef dat ees not met, and I find out yoo have been executing villains, we are goeeng to be haveeng a very... _unpleasant_ conversation. Understand?"

Hating the fact that he was taking orders from Lucy Wilde's husband, a former full-time scumbag, Ramsbottom huffed and put his head down, unable to stop himself from clenching his fists. He will require many a cup of tea after this conversation.

"Understood." He spoke, his voice hoarse with rage. The burly man turned and strolled further into the room, his back firmly against Gru. "Now, if we are done here, I have other business to attend to."

"Almost." Gru replied, gathering the director's attention at the last moment. As he spoke, Gru made his way towards the exit elevator, a grin planted on his expression as he did so. "As per my second condition, me and my family will be takeeng de next week off from work. Yoo see..."

"We have a family road trip to finish!"

* * *

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 **ONE WEEK LATER**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

 **WHIZZ...** _ **BANG!**_

 **WHIZZ...** _ **BANG!**_

Atop Hunchback Mountain, fireworks of all different colors were lighting up the night sky, all of which had been purchased and set off by the Gru family. For the final day of their week-long road trip, they had all hiked the mountain together and placed a series of fireworks in a small patch of grass near the cafe, an activity they'd all had a hand in planning.

Thankfully, when they arrived, they were the only ones up there, with even the café being closed and empty. That way, they had the whole mountain and it's surrounding scenery for as long as they wanted it, something that was perfect for the final day of the road trip. There were even some ideas of camping out being thrown around, but that hadn't been confirmed yet...

Although, with a two and a half hour drive standing in between them and their beds, it did seem like a pretty fun and _useful_ idea.

Stood near the mountain edge was Gru and Lucy, who were simply admiring the view and the fireworks, something that Lucy was in charge of setting off. Meanwhile, Jack and the girls were sat at the café's bench, conversing while they too admired the fireworks.

The conversation was originally about the road trip and the activities they'd undergone, then it veered off onto something about a unicorn pixie hybrid, a topic that was obviously directed by Agnes, before they finally fell into a nice silence, apart from the firework explosions, of course.

Well, that was the case, up until Margo broke it with something a little unexpected, as she closely watched the night sky.

"Remember when we hiked up here the first time, and we all saw Miss Hattie?" She said, turning to her siblings, who all seemed immediately confused. Where did that come from?

"Uh, _yeah_..." Jack replied, pulling an odd face. "What about it?"

"What if we never saw her that day?" She continued, looking off into the distance in thought. "What if she hadn't decided to come up here?"

"Are we _really_ having this conversation again, Margo?" Edith asked, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't matter what _could've_ happened. Everything's fine now, isn't it?"

"No, I mean it in a good way." Margo responded, smiling at her tomboy sister. "If we hadn't seen Miss Hattie, I don't think I would be this...happy right now. I mean, look at what we've got. This is all so...amazing. Everything that could've gone right, _has_ gone right! It...it doesn't even seem real."

"Well, it is!" Jack exclaimed, grinning at all three of them. He couldn't help but agree with her logic. After visiting his old childhood home, and then living through the events that proceeded it the next day, he now truly understands how lucky they all are. "We've made it, girls! _Woo_!"

All four of them giggled and cheered, before lifting their arms into the air in celebration just as Lucy lit up another firework and sent it flying high into the air.

 **WHIZZ...** _ **BANG!**_

"Well...I'm gonna go look for some flowers." Margo spoke, motioning over to a nearby set of wildflowers as she rose from the bench. "If everything keeps going right, then I should be able to find a Georgia Aster. It's one of the rarest flowers in the world."

With that, the twelve-year-old happily strolled away, humming to herself. Shortly after, Agnes stood from her seat and lifted her unicorn in the air, pretending to be extremely concerned.

"Quick, the gingerbread forest is being hurt by some super scary monster fireworks!" She exclaimed aloud, giggling to herself excitedly as she ran off to play. "We gotta go save it!"

Once she had also disappeared, Jack and Edith were now the only ones left at the bench, and after a short silence, the youngest sibling spoke up.

"Hey...Jack?" She started, looking up at him as she gathered his attention from the fireworks. "Uh... _thanks_."

" _Thanks_?" Jack repeated, smirking through his perplexed expression. "For what?"

"For...y'know..." She continued, dropping her head a little. There was some clear discomfort on Edith's face, and at that point, Jack started to get a little worried. He hated seeing her concerned about something, especially at this moment in time. Only happy faces can exist right now. "For not being like... _dad_. _Our_ dad."

"Edith..." Jack replied, his face dropping a little as he moved over to sit right beside the ten-year-old. "Where's this coming from?"

"I...I dunno. I've just been thinking about it for a while." She said, turning to face her biological brother. "I mean, you have the same...uh...g... _greens_ as him, so why didn't you become a super evil bad guy like he was?"

In this sudden complex conversation, Jack couldn't even find it within himself to laugh at the fact that she said 'greens' instead of 'genes'. It was concerning him a little that this topic had been brought up so abruptly. How long had she been keeping this in for? He wanted to know, but at the same time, also didn't.

"Well, the same goes for you." Jack replied. "You have the same _genes_ as he does, but you turned out really good. I don't know why but...that's just the way things happened."

"It's so weird..." Edith commented, glancing away for a few seconds in thought. "Do you think we were just born to be not evil?"

"Possibly." Jack replied, nodding as he too looked off into the distance. "Either that, or...somewhere down the bloodline, we got the good guy genes."

Edith smiled brightly.

"Yeah!" She said, nodding at speed. "We got the super cool...uh... _jeans_?"

Jack chuckled, the happiness evident in his voice.

"Yeah..." He agreed, nodding at a much slower pace to her. He watched as she joyfully stared up at him, that fantastic smile present across her face, and that familiar sense of total elation swept over him. Before, he would've questioned whether he actually deserved to have such a great sister, no, such a great _family_. But now, he had finally learned the definition of deserving it. As long as you appreciate what you have, then yeah, you deserve it. "We sure did."

The eighteen-year-old dragged his little sister in for a small hug, and in return, Edith wrapped her arms tightly around her brother's side, smiling brightly to herself.

What if he had never accidentally murdered his social worker at the age of ten?

What if he had never been kidnapped and forced into a horrible job in the IVB?

What if he had never been given the task of killing his own sister and her adoptive family?

Who cares? At the end of the day, he gets to hug his biological sister right now. Yes, those bad things seemed bad when they were happening, but if they had never happened, he wouldn't be in this great position.

Now _that_ was super cool!

"I still don't know about this, Gru..." Lucy spoke, as she leaned her head against Gru's shoulder at the cliff edge. "Being good on some days and being bad on others? It just feels like you might...y'know..."

"Lucy, no matter what, I will always love yoo and de gurls." He replied, wrapping his arm a little tighter around her side. "Yoo're de best part of my whole life and dere isn't a theeng I wouldn't do for you. But, I also gotta look out for myself as well. And I feel like dis ees de only way we can avoid another Gru temper tantrum."

"Well, yeah, I want you to be happy..." Lucy said, nodding slightly in agreement. "But...does this mean I'm not gonna have my AVL partner anymore?"

"Of course not, I'm still gonna be dere." Gru replied, smiling to himself. "Eet's just dat...sometimes... _I_ might be de one yoo're takeeng down."

Lucy laughed a little, subconsciously snuggling closer to him.

"Fine..." She gave in playfully, smiling along with her husband. "But prepare to get your butt kicked, big guy."

"Haha...we'll see about dat."

The two simply stood there in silence for a short while, admiring the comfort of the night air. It was an odd silence. As if there was someone trying hard to be extremely quiet. Nevertheless, it was very peaceful, and the couple couldn't ignore the immense loving relaxation they held for each other.

"I love you." Lucy spoke, closing her eyes, admiring the feeling even more.

"I love yoo too." Gru replied. However, at that point, he moved away from her slightly, startling her a little. "And that's why I gotta go..."

Suddenly, a huge whirring noise sounded and Gru was lifted high into the air, almost giving Lucy a heart-attack. She quickly followed him with his gaze, and when she found him being lifted up by a minion rope into a large metal plane, steered by her blonde-haired brother-in-law, her mouth couldn't help but fall agape.

"And keep de family tradition alive!" Dru yelled, as the minions lifted Gru up into the cockpit alongside his twin brother. At that point, the rest of the family ran over and stared upwards in complete shock, as the ship turned and flew off into the distance, the sound of multiple high-pitched waves of laughter slowly fading.

As they all watched the distant light travel further and further away from the mountain, Lucy turned to Jack and gave him a shrug, coupled with an excited smile.

"Five-minute head-start?"

 **THE END**

* * *

 _There we are! We've made it to the end! Cue the credits song from DM3 (that song is annoyingly catchy)_

 _I can't believe that I've actually managed to finish this! I honestly never foresaw myself ever getting to the end, so that makes me super happy! But...also really, really sad at the same time! I'm gonna miss writing this story so bad, man..._

 _Anyways, now, I'm gonna talk a lot about this entire trilogy, just to overview and clear up some stuff. So, in short, I'm just gonna ramble..._

 _Obviously, over this past year, I've been pretty slow with releasing a lot of these chapters, and I want to express how much I seriously appreciate everyone's patience. Even after I took a month or even longer to release the next installment, people still seemed very interested, which is something I definitely wasn't expecting. It means a lot, so thank you._

 _But, as to why I've been taking so long, I'd say there are three main reasons. One, because real life stuff has become a lot more hectic. Two, because I wanted to ensure that the messages in the story were being conveyed properly. And three, because I didn't want to force myself to write._

 _Basically, after DTB2, I realized how much pressure I was putting on myself to get chapters out. Throughout the whole of that story, I was always forcing myself to write, even when I REALLY didn't want to. Obviously, I LOVE writing fanfics, but doing it non-stop, every day for months gets extremely tiresome. This time around, I not only wanted to take my time and write only when I wanted to, but I also thought that could be something cool to actually explore as a theme of the story._

 _Throughout this, Gru has been forcing himself to live this AVL life that he was finding boring and repetitive, no matter how much he was starting to hate it. He obviously still loves his family and his job, but going through that same stressful routine ended up driving him crazy. I feel like if he shakes things up and mixes a lot of what he loves together (such as a bit of villainy, and a bit of world-saving), then he'll be a lot happier. I guess I thought it would be cool to explore._

 _I really tried my best, but I don't know how well that got conveyed in the story. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it._

 _Now, after this DTB, I feel I've covered and wrapped up pretty much every plotline I started in this series. I've seen some requests for a fourth one (which makes me happy, since I'm glad you've enjoyed these so much), but I really don't think it's needed. I'll miss writing Jack's character, so if people are interested, I'm certainly up for doing one-shots about some stuff with him and the girls or him and Grucy. But, I highly doubt I'll make another full-length story for this series._

 _Instead, I'd rather focus on starting up some new stuff. Don't exactly know what yet, but I've got a few vague ideas._

 _Finally, thanks for the INSANE support throughout this entire trilogy. I know I've literally said it a million times, but I am INCREDIBLY appreciative of every favorite, follow, and review. In fact, even those who have just been occasionally reading along, thank you. I started Down The Bloodline just to give Edith a more integral roll in Despicable Me, since I feel she gets forgotten about a lot in the actual movies, but it's kind of strayed off into this bigger thing that I really wasn't expecting. Nonetheless, I love what it became._

 _Yet again, thanks so much!_

 _Anyway, I'm going on and on here, so I'm just gonna wrap it up._

 _Until next time, goodbye :)_


End file.
